Market News

The U.S. Dollar stayed close to a 5-year peak against its Japanese counterpart as investors turn their focus on soon to be released economic data which either will or won’t support the Fed’s decision to reduce its bond purchasing program over the course of this year.

Wall Street ended 2013 on a record high Tuesday, with both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting annual jumps not seen since the 1990s.

The U.S. Dollar held close to a 5-year peak against the Yen during Asian trade and is poised to record the largest annual percentile gain against it in more than three decades, with the U.S. Dollar exploding by 20.9% this year.

The Japanese Yen continued to wither in strength, dropping to a fresh 5-year trough versus the U.S. Dollar during Monday’s Asian trading session, with total losses for the year now reaching more than 17%, suggesting that the combined efforts of the Japanese government’s monetary and fiscal policies have been successful at least in terms of the Yen’s depreciation.

The Yen slipped close to a 5-year low versus its main competition, i.e. the U.S. Dollar and the common currency Euro, a victim to whetted risk appetite which gave Wall Street a solid boost to fresh highs and which put pressure on low yielding currencies like the Yen.

Asian equity markets were mixed on Thursday with Japan's Nikkei at fresh six-year highs while mainland shares were dragged down by steep losses in financials.

The yen traded 0.2 percent from a five-year low against the dollar as the Bank of Japan continues unprecedented easing while the U.S. Federal Reserve begins to pare stimulus.

Better than expected consumption figures from the U.S. helped to steady the greenback during the Asian trading session as it gave rise to continued speculation that the improvement to the economic recovery would offer a boost to yields on U.S. Treasuries.

t is that time of year again! As the Forex market is centered in London and North America, traders should pay attention to their holiday season of Christmas and New Year.

With the Christmas holidays just ahead, lackluster trade is already surfacing for the major currencies with the Yen, Euro and greenback barely moving during Asian trade. For the Japanese Yen, market players are unlikely to see any true momentum as a holiday there impacts trade.

Ahead of the Bank of Japan’s monthly policy meeting, the Japanese Yen had once again been under pressure as investors speculate on the BOJ’s commitment to maintaining their existing, ultra loose policy.

The U.S. Dollar surged to a 5-year peak versus the safe haven Japanese Yen following the surprise news from the Federal Reserve that it would begin to scale back its quantitative easing scheme by cutting the monthly bond purchase by $10 billion, split equally between Treasuries and mortgage-back securities.

The greenback was clearly on the defensive during the Asian trading session as market players await a Fed decision which could impact the dollar’s direction.

The Euro continued to edge broadly higher on Tuesday following the release yesterday of unexpectedly upbeat manufacturing data from the Eurozone.

The U.S. Dollar experienced light trading and little movement during Monday’s trading session in Asia, with investors making the decision to take a wait and see stance to determine what, if anything, the Federal Reserve might do when its policy team meets later this week.