Currency Exchange UK

 

Yen reaches 8-month High against US Dollar

Yen reaches 8-month High against US Dollar

Share prices for exporters from Japan have taken a knock as the Yen reached eight-month highs against the US dollar.

On Monday, the yen reached 88.23 per US dollar, which brings it to its highest point since January, when it reached 87.10.  January’s level had been the highest peak in over a decade for the yen.

Analysts point to increased confidence as a key reason for the yen’s strength.  It has been feared that the government there would forcibly weaken its currency in order to boost the economy, but this is now unlikely to happen, according to economists in Japan.

Measures such as these have been employed in the past, when the country has feared for its growth levels.  As the world’s second largest economy, Japan holds dear its exporting relations.  But for importers the current currency level means good news.

But this time the country looks set to leave its currency alone.  Mr Fujii, Japan’s finance minister, has said that to weaken the yen would be akin to ‘foreign exchange dumping’ and that influencing foreign exchange rates would be ‘a mistake’.