NEW YORK: The dollar rallied against most peers Monday at the start of a light US economic calendar week, while the yen fell on fresh suggestions of intervention by Japanese officials.
“It’s a new trading week and the US dollar is the strongest currency. For the past three months, the dollar has been beaten down but now the bulls are back in control,” said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.
Last Friday’s US jobs report missed market expectations but included an uptick in wage growth that provided a glimmer of hope that US retail sales, due at the end of the week, rebounded in April, she said.
The dollar advanced 0.2 percent against the euro from Friday, to $1.1381 per euro, and jumped 1.1 percent to 108.34 yen. The greenback was also higher against the pound, but slipped on the Swiss franc.
The euro rose to 123.29 yen compared with 122.17 Friday. Lien said that government data showing better-than-expected German factory orders in March helped the euro to hold onto its gains.
After hitting sharp peaks in April, the yen’s pullback comes as Japanese officials threaten intervention if the currency moves too quickly.
“Our position is that wide fluctuations and rapid movements are not desirable as they can cause various impacts as far as trade policies and fiscal policies are concerned,” Finance Minister Taro Aso told parliament Monday.
“We have always said, in these situations, that we are prepared to intervene” in the market, he said.
Omer Esiner of Commonwealth Foreign Exchange said that a currency intervention ahead of the Group of Seven meeting in late May was unlikely.
But, he said in a client note, “there is a risk of either currency intervention or BOJ (Bank of Japan) monetary policy easing in the months ahead, a risk that is (at least for now) keeping the yen’s upside limited.”
2100 GMT Monday Friday
EUR/USD 1.1381 1.1403
EUR/JPY 123.29 122.17
EUR/CHF 1.1054 1.1093
EUR/GBP 0.7899 0.7903
USD/JPY 108.34 107.14
USD/CHF 0.9712 0.9729
GBP/USD 1.4407 1.4428
