Dollar/yen Exchange Rate

(Reuters) - Asian shares inched up on Tuesday as Australia's larger-than-expected rate cut and firm Chinese factory data boosted Australian equities, but concerns about the U.S. economy and the euro zone capped prices in holiday-thinned trade. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.2 percent, after posting just a 0.4 percent gain in April. Most markets in Asia and Europe were closed on Tuesday to mark the May Day holiday. Financial spreadbetters predicted Britain's top share index .FTSE to open up 0.2 percent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 fell 1.4 percent as a stronger yen hurt exporters. .T Australian shares .AXJO rose 1.1 percent after the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed rates by 50 basis points against a 25 bps cut forecast. ...

(Reuters) - The euro weakened against the dollar on Monday and was on track for its worst month since December, pressured by nagging euro zone stresses as German retail sales were softer than expected and Spain slipped into recession. Investors were also wary of buying euros before weekend elections in France and Greece and a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting later in the week that could knock sentiment in the single currency. "There is clear risk aversion in the market," said Boris Schlossberg, director of FX research at GFT in Jersey City, New Jersey, citing data showing Spain's slide into recession and the weaker-than-expected German data. "In short, the news from Europe continues to point to further structural stress in the system." The euro failed to gain traction versus the ...

(Reuters) - The dollar briefly fell to a two-month low against a basket of currencies on Monday, hurt by signs that the U.S. economic recovery was losing momentum, which keeps alive the chances of further monetary easing by the Federal Reserve. Despite the dollar's problems, the euro failed to gain much traction, with investors looking to sell at higher levels as harsh austerity measures take a toll on economic activity across the region. Spain slipped back into recession as gross domestic product shrank 0.3 percent in the January to March quarter, data showed on Monday. Traders were likely to be wary of the euro ahead of the second round of the French presidential vote as well as elections for a new Greek parliament next weekend. The dollar .DXY touched 78.638 against a basket of ...

(Reuters) - The dollar fell to a two-month low against a basket of currencies on Monday, weighed down after modest first quarter growth in the U.S. economy kept alive chances of further monetary easing by the Federal Reserve. The dollar is likely to come under more pressure if data, including U.S. jobs numbers, this week disappoints. U.S. growth cooled in the first quarter partly due to businesses cutting back on investments, reinforcing the central bank's contention that interest rates should be kept near zero through 2014. The slowdown fuelled speculation that the Fed may eventually launch another bond buying program, or a third round of quantitative easing. That would likely have a negative effect on the dollar while giving riskier assets like stocks, commodities and higher-yielding ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The debt crisis is far from over still and I think Spain will be worse before it gets better" - Henrik Drusebjerg, a senior equity strategist at Nordea Bank AB The seasonally adjusted current account of the euro zone swung a deficit of €1.3 billion in February from a surplus of €3.7 billion in January, said the European Central Bank on Wednesday. USD "We got used to companies beating estimates by a pretty good margin" - Burt White, chief investment officer at LPL Financial Corp. U.S. stocks fell after Intel Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. disappointed market participants with their quarterly results. GBP "… the monetary policy committee is likely to remain on hold on the stock of asset purchases at its May meeting" - Mauro Giorgio Marrano, an ...

(Reuters) - The euro fell against the dollar on Wednesday after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said a strong euro hurt exporters, and it looked set to stay pressured with investors still wary of Spain's fiscal problems and wider euro zone debt contagion. Traders cited selling by Swiss investors after Sarkozy said the euro's exchange rate should be up for discussion with the European Central Bank. The euro edged lower throughout the European session to hit a session low of $1.3076. The move erased modest gains made the previous day on upbeat earnings from U.S. companies, decent demand at a Spanish bill auction and a better-than-expected German ZEW sentiment survey. Market players said the euro could post further losses ahead of a Spanish bond auction on Thursday, and poor demand and ...

(Reuters) - The dollar leaped higher against the euro and yen on Tuesday as minutes from the Federal Reserve's March policy meeting weakened expectations of more stimulus measures from the U.S. central bank. Fed policymakers appeared less keen to launch a new phase of monetary stimulus through a third round of bond buying, or quantitative easing (QE). In the half hour following the release, the euro tumbled a full cent, its biggest drop since March 9. The Fed's two rounds of QE were tantamount to printing money, so diminished expectations of QE3 lifted the appeal of the dollar. The minutes surprised the market because just last week Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke kept alive the idea of more stimulus by warning about the risks of long-term unemployment for the economy, which investors ...

(Reuters) - The dollar rose 1 percent against the yen on Tuesday as minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's March meeting weakened expectations of more stimulus measures. Fed policymakers appeared less keen to launch a new round of monetary stimulus through a third round of bond buying, or quantitative easing. QE is tantamount to printing money, and while diminished expectations of QE3 buoyed the dollar against the yen, the greenback remained in its weeks-long trading range against the euro. "What the minutes have done was essentially take the market off guard because the members have indicated that there is no need for additional stimulus, unless the economy lost momentum or inflation was slower to pick up," said Alexander Chepurko, foreign exchange analyst at Forex Club in New York. " ...

(Reuters) - The euro opened the second quarter of 2012 lower against the dollar and yen on Monday as weak European manufacturing data highlighted a growing split between the economic outlooks of the United States and the euro zone. Manufacturing strengthened in the United States and China in March while the euro zone contracted for the eighth straight month. Reports from the euro zone, which is teetering on the brink of recession, also showed the downturn in the region's smaller nations has spread to core countries Germany and France, according to purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs) for March. The outlook was grim as new orders fell across the region for the 10th month. The weak data should keep European Central Bank monetary policy accommodative, but at the same time the U.S. Federal ...