Yen hits an 8-month high of 85.32 against dollar
04 Aug 2010
The Japanese yen rose to an eight-month high against the US dollar helped by growing concern about the US economy and talk of further monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve.
The Japanese yen rose to 85.32 a dollar against its 15-year high of 84.82 to the dollar, mounting concern that the continuing deflation might hit Japan's exports badly.
This was the strongest level of the Yen against the dollar since 27 November 2009. The Japanese currency also rose to 112.71 against the euro.
The rising yen battered export-related stocks on worries that a strong yen could undermine Japan's exports, pushing Japan's Nikkei stock index down 2.1 per cent. The 10-year Japanese government bond yields also fell to a seven-year low below 1.0 per cent.
The 225-stock Nikkei lost 204.67 points, or 2.11 per cent, to nit 9,489.34.96 while the broader Topix index of all Group 1 stocks fell 13.25 points (1.54 per cent), to 845.93 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
European bond prices rose, with the September futures rising 18 basis points to 129.24, while US bonds were within limits of Thursday's record low of 0.526 per cent.
