Counter One Sided Moves

(Reuters) - A counteroffensive of sorts may be underway this year in what has seemed like a one-sided "global currency war" as developing economies slow, western money-printing pauses and the heat comes out of pumped-up emerging market currencies. The three-year-old "war", as Brazil dubs the devaluationist policies of developed nations seeking relief from home-grown credit crunches, may well just come full circle and burn itself out as a result. But the reverse course of emerging currency depreciation carries its own significant risks, from skewing investment decisions to aggravating trade diplomacy. What's more, it's Japan's success this year in finally weakening its supercharged yen, by fresh rounds of money-printing from its central bank, which may prove pivotal by disturbing the ...

Robust U.S. jobs data spurred investors to buy the U.S. dollar and sell yen on Friday with the rosier economic report curtailing some expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold off raising interest rates until 2014. The strong jobs data diminished the greenback's safe haven status as investors took on more risk. The main beneficiary was the euro where initial losses on the report were erased by the end of trade despite the overhang of Europe's sovereign debt crisis. Data from the U.S. Labor Department showed 243,000 non-farm jobs were created in January, its fastest pace in nine months, pulling the unemployment rate to an unexpected three year low of 8.3 percent. Friday's data erodes the argument for more economic stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve and for some investors even ...

The dollar gained against the yen and euro on Friday, sending both to session lows after a report showed a larger-than-expected gain in U.S. jobs, which investors perceived as reducing the likelihood of further stimulus by the Federal Reserve anytime soon. To some investors it even suggested the U.S. central bank may raise interest rates sooner than it has indicated in recent days. Higher rates will raise the attractiveness of dollar-denominated securities and demand for the dollars to buy them. The report showed a rise of 243,000 jobs in U.S. nonfarm payrolls in January, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent . Analysts were forecasting a gain of 150,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate to hold steady, according to a Reuters poll. A ...

The dollar teetered near three-month lows versus the yen on Friday, as risks for a move towards record lows mounted before U.S. jobs data, keeping alive the threat of official intervention to weaken the Japanese currency. Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said on Friday speculative yen buying had gathered pace since last week and repeated that he was ready to act decisively to counter "one-sided" moves. The euro and the Australian dollar struggled to make much headway as a dip in Chinese non-manufacturing data weighed on sentiment. The dollar bought 76.19 yen, off this week's three-month low of 76.027. It was in a tight range but within easy reach of a record low around 75.31 set on October 31, when Japan launched a massive round of intervention to weaken the yen. The U.S. jobs ...

The euro and the Australian dollar struggled to make much headway in Asia on Friday as a dip in Chinese non-manufacturing data weighed on sentiment ahead of a key jobs report in the United States. China's non-manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 52.9 in January from 56 the month before, prompting traders to lighten positions in risk currencies. That sent the euro to an intraday low of $1.3114, while the Aussie nudged down 0.2 percent to $1.0692. They recouped most of the losses after the HSBC China Services PMI showed the country's services sector expanded at a steady pace in January as new orders rose, but traders said flows were light ahead of the U.S. figures. "Today's rather mixed data suggests China will likely avoid a hard landing, but there are few reasons to be ...

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK at 0800 GMT (EDT +0400) USD Risk sentiment was muted in Asia, mainly due to disappointingUSlabour data and intact uncertainty about the Eurozone. According to Friday’s payrolls report US employers added no new jobs in August. The unemployment rate was stuck at 9.1%. With the labour market remaining weak, there is no indication for a quick rebound in consumer sentiment and hence domestic demand. Elsewhere, according to S&P, eurobonds, if becoming reality, would be rated according to the weakest member state. InGermanyChancellor Merkel’s party lost regional elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. This also comes in response to voters’ discontent with Merkel’s handling of the debt crisis. As a result to above outlined conditions, most Asian stock markets indices are ...

Previous session overview Currency markets were relatively subdued during European trading hours Monday with the euro locked into a trading range against the dollar, while the yen held steady against the buck as traders braced for fresh action by Japan to tame the currency's strength. Japan's Finance Minister, who controls decisions on intervention, stepped up his rhetoric against the yen's strength Monday, saying recent "one-sided yen moves" have been accelerating. At 1046 GMT, the dollar was at JPY76.790 against the yen, compared with JPY76.54, while the euro was at JPY110.827 compared with JPY110.20. More broadly, the picture was mixed with the dollar losing ground against the commodity-linked currencies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Elsewhere, the euro was mostly higher ...

Forex News and Events: Friday marked another volatile day for traders, as continuing equity market weakness pushed USDJPY to fresh record lows of 75.96 and gold surged to new all-time highs. At the start of this week, USDJPY’s moves have been countered by renewed verbal intervention from Finance Minister Noda, but gold’s rally has continued unabated, hitting $18950 in early European trade today and looking very likely to threaten $1900 in the coming sessions. European stock markets have tentatively reversed their early losses but sentiment remains extremely fragile; with no data releases scheduled today and a light calendar in the rest of the week, focus now turns to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday. Most expect that he will simply emphasize the US commitment ...

(Reuters) - Japan will take decisive action against any speculative moves in the currency market, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said, signaling Tokyo's readiness to intervene to stem further yen rises after its spike to a record high last week. Noda said he saw recent yen rises as even more one-sided than before and that Tokyo would exchange information closely with other countries regarding currencies, suggesting it would stay in frequent contact with its Group of Seven partners. "We will watch markets even more closely than before to see whether there is any speculative activity. We won't rule out any measures and will take decisive action when necessary," Noda told reporters on Monday. Noda, Prime Minister Naoto Kan and top government spokesman Yukio Edano all repeated the phrase ...