Wallstreet Journal MarketWatch
Yen climbs on PM Abe’s remarks; kiwi slammed - Currencies
- Parent Category: RSS Feeds
- Category: Wallstreet Journal MarketWatch RSS
- Published on Wednesday, 20 February 2013 00:48
- Written by Walstreet Journal MarketWatch
- Hits: 3886
/ 0
Authors: Walstreet Journal MarketWatch
Reuters
The dollar had risen as high as ¥93.73 and the euro had climbed to ¥125.87 earlier in the day, after a Japanese media report had said that Toshiro Muto was no longer being considered for the Bank of Japan governor.
Muto was widely seen as a moderate in his monetary-policy preferences. The report about his likely ouster from the race fueled hopes that a candidate who favors aggressive monetary easing — which could in turn drag the yen lower — may now succeed incumbent Masaaki Shirakawa. Shirakawa plans to step down on March 19.
Abe said he would consider candidates for the Bank of Japan governor and two deputy governors on his return from his official trip to the U.S., from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24.
Also aiding the yen’s weakness earlier in the day were official data, which showed that Japan’s trade deficit for January ballooned to ¥1.63 trillion from ¥641 billion in December. Read more about Japan’s trade data.
The ICE dollar index /quotes/zigman/1652083 DXY -0.23% , a gauge of the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major global currencies, was at 80.297 compared with 80.450 in New York Tuesday.
The WSJ dollar index /quotes/zigman/9625991 XX:BUXX -0.15% , which measures the greenback’s moves against a slightly wider basket of currencies, eased to 71.71 from 71.84.
Dow edges closer to all-time high
The DJIA is within 100 points of an all-time high, and dealmania continues with news that OfficeMax and Office Depot are in talks to merge.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar, also known as the kiwi, got hammered after Reserve Bank of New Zealand Gov. Graeme Wheeler said the central bank “stands ready to intervene in the currency when circumstances are right.”
The kiwi /quotes/zigman/4867888/sampled NZDUSD -0.8447% slumped to 84.02 U.S. cents from about 84.65 cents in North American trade. The New Zealand currency was trading at about 75 cents in June last year.
`Strong language from a new governor’
“With such strong language from a relatively new governor, Wheeler may find himself with a credibility issue should [the kiwi] move higher and no action be forthcoming,” Michael Turner, a fixed-income and currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients.
The euro climbed against the dollar as markets looked ahead to a busy schedule of events later in the day. The common currency /quotes/zigman/4867933/sampled EURUSD +0.1632% was fetching $1.3427 as compared with $1.3391.
Markets were looking forward to the outcome of a French business survey, and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s state of the nation address in the parliament later in the day.
Data on U.S. housing starts, as well as minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting, were also due Wednesday.
Among other major currency crosses, the British pound /quotes/zigman/4867886/sampled GBPUSD +0.0351% was trading at $1.5443 versus $1.5427, while the Australian dollar /quotes/zigman/4867876/sampled AUDUSD -0.0196% fell to $1.0353 from $1.0358.
US : ICAP Currencies
Volume: 0.0000
Feb. 20, 2013 4:15a
US : ICAP Currencies
125.1450
-0.1337 -0.1067%
Volume: 0.0000
Feb. 20, 2013 4:15a
US : U.S.: ICE Futures U.S.
Volume: 0.00
Feb. 20, 2013 4:05a
XX : WSJ Index
Volume: 0.00
Feb. 20, 2013 4:15a
US : ICAP Currencies
Volume: 0.0000
Feb. 20, 2013 4:15a
US : ICAP Currencies
Volume: 0.0000
Feb. 20, 2013 4:15a
US : ICAP Currencies
Volume: 0.0000
Feb. 20, 2013 4:15a
US : ICAP Currencies
Volume: 0.0000
Feb. 20, 2013 4:15a
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau. Follow him on Twitter @MktwKumar.
