| Stronger yen drags dollar higher
THE dollar closed higher today after dealers exchanged US dollars for yen on hopes that Japan would be pressed into raising interest rates. At 5.00pm (AEDT), the domestic currency was at 77.46 US cents, up from yesterday's close of 77.31 US cents. Commonwealth Bank currency strategist Besa Deda said the Australian dollar rose as the yen gained strength against the US dollar ahead of the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers' meeting this weekend in Essen, Germany. The G7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. "Currency market players appear to be squaring their short positions in Japanese yen ahead of this meeting," Ms Deda said. "This squaring is occurring because markets see a risk that the G7 meeting will apply significant pressure on the Japanese officials to lift interest rates and help the Japanese yen appreciate.
London Leads NY as Foreign Exchange
London extended its lead over New York as the world's biggest center for currency trading in the six months through October, according to central bank surveys. Trading grew to an average $1.06 trillion a day in London during October, up 6% from April, and shrank 7.5% in New York to $534 billion in the period, semi-annual surveys conducted by the Bank of England and Federal Reserve showed. " London has always been the centre of foreign-exchange," a currency strategist in London at BNP Paribas SA, Ian Stannard, said. "It's continuing to grow." A growing share of the city's volume is from currencies other than the euro and dollar as eastern Europe economies expand and investors take advantage of Japan's low interest rates to sell yen and seek higher yields elsewhere.
FOREX-Yen drops as hopes fade for G7 action
NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The yen extended losses on Friday as doubts grew about whether finance officials at the Group of Seven meeting in Germany this weekend would take any action to stem the Japanese currency's decline. The yen fell against the euro for the fourth straight day and against the U.S. dollar for the third session in a row. The meeting of the Group of Seven rich nations in Essen, Germany, which concludes on Saturday, has been the key focus this week for investors who have sold the yen and other low-yielding currencies, and used the proceeds to buy high yielding currencies in the so-called "carry trade." European policy-makers have been calling for the G7 to tackle the yen's weakness as it makes European exports more expensive in Japan and makes Japanese exports cheaper in Europe.
FOREX-Yen suffers broadly, hits 8-year low vs sterling
TOKYO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The yen slumped to an eight-year low against the pound on Tuesday and held near a four-year low versus the dollar as investors shunned the low-yielding currency after the Bank of Japan kept rates on hold last week. With Japan's rates already near zero and doubts brewing about whether the BOJ will be able to raise rates in February, the yen kept struggling against higher-yielding rivals. "There's not a lot of factors to trade on this week, so it looks like the focus is going to stay on rate differentials," said Takehiko Jimbo, a foreign exchange manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking. The yen has been clobbered since the BOJ left the overnight call rate at 0.25 percent last Thursday, which raised questions about the influence of government pressure against a move and convinced market players that rates will stay low for a while.
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