Yen Up Against High Beta Currencies

  March 01st, 2013 at 14:14



Rolled 1,000-yen banknoteYen is gaining against high beta currencies today, thanks in large part to concerns about the global economy. A bit of safe haven demand has emerged, and that usually means a higher yen.

Even though recent news about the new Bank of Japan governor has prompted a degree of yen weakness recently, since more aggressive easing measures are expected, the sheer economic difficulty facing global economies right now is prompting some staying power in the yen.

The latest PMI data out of China shows a small drop, although the index isn’t in contraction territory. British PMI was disappointing. All of the news out of the eurozone, from the unemployment rate to Italian PMI, was disappointing. With all this disappointment, there is bound to be a search for stability, and the Japanese yen usually provides that.


Yen isn’t gaining against the dollar, though. Even with the budget sequester kicking in today, the US dollar remains relatively strong and stable in the markets, and not even the yen is gaining against the greenback.

At 14:11 GMT USD/JPY is higher, up to 92.7765 from the open at 92.5650. EUR/JPY, on the other hand, is lower, dropping to 120.6800 from the open at 120.8630. GBP/JPY is down to 139.4120 from the open at 140.3440.