Japanese yen rises as Asian stock declines

The yen rose for a second day versus the dollar and the euro as regional equities and U.S. stock futures fell, spurring demand for the relative safety of Japanese assets.

The yen gained versus all of the 16 most-traded currencies as the MSCI Asia Pacific Index of regional shares declined for a second day and Standard & Poor 500 Index futures dropped 0.2 percent. Japan’s currency strengthened against the Australian dollar for the first time in five days amid speculation Japanese trusts will raise less cash to buy securities in higher-yielding nations.

“Players are looking at equity markets for direction, so when stocks fall, the yen rises,” said Lee Wai Tuck, a currency strategist at Forecast Pte in Singapore. “There’s a strong inverse relationship between the two.”

Japan’s currency rose to 94.96 per dollar as of 1:56 p.m. in Tokyo, from 95.23 yesterday in New York. The yen fetched 136.82 per euro from 137.21. The dollar traded at $1.4407 per euro from $1.4408 in New York yesterday. It declined to $1.4445 on Aug. 3, the weakest since Dec. 18.

Source: Bloomberg