Although major French bank Credit Agricole SA released a report arguing that the Yen would ‘soon’ weaken to 100 per Dollar, other analysts have argued that without a catalyst ‘soon’ could be quite far off.
Those industry experts who have been waiting for the US Dollar to push above 100 Yen remain disappointed today as the pairing continues to trade in the 98.50 – 99.30 range.
The Japanese Yen exchange rate was in the region of 98.8100 Yen to one US Dollar as of 10:00 am GMT
With positive economic news emerging from the Eurozone, Australia and New Zealand supporting risk appetite, the USD/JPY pairing has experienced minimal movement.
The Yen recorded a modest advance on the US Dollar as the European session opened prior to the release of initial jobless claims figures for the US at 13:30 GMT.
If the ‘Greenback’ is to hit the elusive 100 Yen level the US needs to continue producing better-than-forecast data, thereby bolstering confidence in the recovery of the world’s largest economy.
As currency strategist Sean Callow stated: ‘Dollar-Yen lacks the catalyst to make a serious attempt a 100. Confidence isn’t high that we will see further strong readings on the US economy. I think we’re still in a relatively weak patch and that will really constrain the Dollar-Yen near term.’
Last week’s surprising decline in unemployment boosted the US Dollar, so another sign that the labour market is recovering momentum could help the ‘Greenback’ edge higher. Similarly, economists’ expect next week’s retail sales figures to show a second month of declines, but a rebound from March’s drop could be the push the US Dollar needs.
However, while the Yen may not have weakened to 100 per US Dollar quite yet, the currency has still shed 20 per cent against the US Dollar in the last six months – and this is clearly benefiting some of Japan’s most iconic manufacturers.
Nintendo has already announced that a weaker Yen helped to company record stronger profits than in the same period of the previous year, and now Sony has announced that it is back in the black after taking 93.9 billion Yen in the fiscal fourth quarter. The company’s profit was largely due to favourable exchange rates encouraging an 8 per cent increase in quarterly sales.
In the same period of last year the electronics and entertainment company lost 255.2 billion Yen.
Current Japanese Yen (JPY) Exchange Rates
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The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 98.8100 <
The Pound Sterling/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 153.6790 <
The Euro/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 130.1330 <
The New Zealand Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 83.4479 >
The Australian Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 101.0820 >
(Correct as of 10:00 GMT)
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