Business
Yen Hurt By Japan Current Account, Greece In Focus
Yen dipped against dollar last Thursday in a reaction to data showing Japan’s current account was a record deficit in January, while risk currencies gained together with stocks eyeing Greece bond swap deal.
Short-term players sold the Japanese unit after Tokyo posted its first current account deficit in three years.
It came in at 437.3 billion yen (5.41 billion dollars) in January, wider than market estimates of a 317.8 billion yen deficit.
Economists blamed the result on a shift away from nuclear power that pushed up fossil fuel imports and the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday that weighed on exports.
However, they saw it as a one-off figure and expect the annual current account to remain in surplus for the next few years.
The dollar climbed 0.3 per cent against the yen to 81.32 with traders saying the pair’s bob above resistance on hourly charts added to the upward momentum.
“The dollar gained in a headline-driven speculative move,” said Sumino Kamei, senior currency analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in Tokyo.
“The current account deficit, even if a bit above market expectations, was widely expected, so I wouldn’t read too much into this move.
“No one really wants to make aggressive bets ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs data and the Greek deal outcome,” she said.
The greenback has gained nearly 6.5 per cent on the yen since the end of January, before getting stuck in the band of 81.87-80.50, formed by this year’s high and the 23.6 per cent retracement of its February rise.
The euro recovered from a three-week low below 1.31 dollars .
The euro bounced off the Wednesday trough of 1.3096 dollars to 1.3170 dollars, up 0.1 per cent on the day.
Support for the common currency is seen around 1.3077 dollars, at the 55-day moving average.
A Wall Street Journal report suggesting Fed officials were considering buying longer-dated bonds and sterilising the money flow by draining funds in the banking system was also positive for riskier assets.
The Aussie gained 0.3 per cent to 1.0615 dollars in line with solid gains posted across Asian bourses, erasing initial losses following surprisingly soft Australian jobs data.
Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.
Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.
The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.
Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.
“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.
“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”
Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.
In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.
Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.
Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.