During New York morning trading on Thursday, the Japanese yen traded higher against major opponents as some risk-aversion sentiments began after a tsunami warning has issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency following a fresh earthquake of a 7.4 magnitude hit the country’s northeastern coast.
The quake struck at a depth of about 40 kilometers underwater off the coast of Miyagi prefecture at 11.32 p.m. local time on Thursday, the agency said on its website.
It issued a tsunami warning against waves of up to two meters in Miyagi, and a tsunami advisory in the Pacific coast of the prefectures of Aomori, Iwate, Fukushima and Ibaraki.
At 11:35 am ET, the yen advanced to 2-day highs of 84.61 against the US dollar, 137.94 versus the British pound and 87.97 against the Canadian dollar from early morning session’s lows of 85.42, 139.30 and 89.09, respectively.
Against the euro and the Swiss franc, the Japanese currency also edged up and hit highs of 92.41 and 120.79, respectively, at around 11:35 am ET. Currently, the yen is worth 121.39 against the euro, 138.54 versus the pound, 92.61 against the franc and 84.99 versus the greenback.