Asian Session – Yen weakens while dollar steadies on upbeat US PMI
February 21, 2014 7:35 am
The absence of negative news today buoyed risk appetite slightly on Friday. The dollar was steady despite weak Philly Fed data yesterday. However the focus was mainly on the more upbeat Markit PMI numbers which rose to a 4-year high to 56.7 from a prior 53.7 and versus 53 expected. Other upbeat data included jobless claims which were in-line with expectations at 335,000 while CPI matched the annual forecasted rate of 1.6%.
The only data released during the Asian session was the Bank of Japan minutes from the last policy meeting.
The yen weakened against most counterparts, partly due to an easing in risk aversion. Also, the BOJ minutes reiterated that aggressive policy easing will continue.
The dollar ended the Asian session with a 0.28% gain at 102.55 while the euro was up 0.28% against the yen to 140.66.
The euro is down a little against the dollar, at 1.3717 with a 0.01% setback, while sterling lost 0.03% versus the greenback to finish at 1.6645. An important event for the pound will be today’s UK retail sales data. After a big rise in December it will be interesting to see how January’s figure will turn out.
The Australian dollar shrugged off yesterday’s disappointing China data and with better risk appetite today, the currency briefly tested the 90 US cent level. The aussie ended the session at 0.8988, down 0.19% in the session.
The absence of negative news today buoyed risk appetite slightly on Friday. The dollar was steady despite weak Philly Fed data yesterday. However the focus was mainly on the more upbeat Markit PMI numbers which rose to a 4-year high to 56.7 from a prior 53.7 and versus 53 expected. Other upbeat data included jobless claims which were in-line with expectations at 335,000 while CPI matched the annual forecasted rate of 1.6%.
The only data released during the Asian session was the Bank of Japan minutes from the last policy meeting.
The yen weakened against most counterparts, partly due to an easing in risk aversion. Also, the BOJ minutes reiterated that aggressive policy easing will continue.
The dollar ended the Asian session with a 0.28% gain at 102.55 while the euro was up 0.28% against the yen to 140.66.
The euro is down a little against the dollar, at 1.3717 with a 0.01% setback, while sterling lost 0.03% versus the greenback to finish at 1.6645.
An important event for the pound will be today’s UK retail sales data. After a big rise in December it will be interesting to see how January’s figure will turn out.
The Australian dollar shrugged off yesterday’s disappointing China data and with better risk appetite today, the currency briefly tested the 90 US cent level. The aussie ended the session at 0.8988, down 0.19% in the session.
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