Tuesday morning in Asia, the yen fell against its major counterparts as a rise in some Asian stocks reduced demand for the safe-haven Japanese currency.
Some Asian stocks rose today as traders received a positive overnight lead from Wall Street, where all the major U.S. indices posted gains of more than 1 percent on encouraging economic and corporate news.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.9%, New Zealand’s NZX 50 index rose 0.4%, South Korea’s Kospi and Taiwan’s main index soared 0.3% each.
But the stock markets in Australia, China, Singapore and Malaysia fell. The Japanese markets are closed today.
The yen plunged to more than an 8-month low of 94.99 against the US dollar in early Asian deals on Tuesday. On the downside, 96.0 is seen as the next target level for the Japanese currency. At yesterday’s close, the dollar-yen pair was quoted at 94.55.
During early Asian deals on Tuesday, the yen fell against the currencies of Europe, UK and Switzerland. At present, the yen is trading at 4-day lows of 87.61 against the franc, 125.48 against the euro and 144.96 against the pound. The next downside target level for the Japanese currency is seen at 126.0 against the euro, 87.9 against the franc and 145.2 against the pound. The yen closed yesterday’s trading at 124.74 against the euro, 87.09 against the franc and 144.14 against the pound.
The yen weakened to more than a 6-month low of 69.41 against the New Zealand dollar during early Asian deals on Tuesday. If the yen slides further, it may likely target the 69.8 level. The kiwi-yen pair closed yesterday’s trading at 69.14.
Statistics NZ reported today that salary and wage rates in New Zealand, including overtime, increased in the first quarter of 2010 by 0.3 percent over the preceding quarter. The agency said public sector salary/wage rates increased 0.5 percent while private sector rates rose 0.3 percent.
In early Asian deals on Tuesday, the yen slipped to a 4-day low of 93.97 against the Canadian dollar. This may be compared to yesterday’s close of 93.58. On the downside, 94.2 is seen as the next target level for the Japanese currency.
The yen declined to a 4-day low of 87.99 against the Aussie in early Asian deals on Tuesday. The next downside target level for the yen is seen at a multi-month low of 88.1. The aussie-yen pair was worth 87.61 at yesterday’s close.
Looking ahead, the Reserve Bank of Australia is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision at 12:30 am ET. Analysts expect the central bank to hike interest rates by 25 bps to 4.5%.
The U.K. mortgage approvals data for March, manufacturing PMI for April and the Euro-zone March PPI are due for release in the European session.
The U.S. pending home sales and the factory goods orders- both for March are expected in the New York session.