Forex - Yen gains in early Asia on safe-haven demand




Location: Investing.com - The yen gained on Wednesday in early Asia as investors look for safe-haven assets in a downbeat global economy. USD/JPY changed hands at 111.86, down 0.21%, while AUD/USD traded at 0.7196, down 0.12%. In Japan, the corporate services price index rose 0.2% compared to an expected gain of 0.3%. Ahead, Australia reports fourth quarter figures for construction work done, seen down 2.0% quarter-on-quarter, and the wage price index expected up 0.6% quarter-on-quarter. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 97.39,. Overnight, the dollar was almost unchanged against the other major currencies on Tuesday after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports and as oil prices dropped further. The National Association of Retailers said that existing home sales rose 0.4% in January to 5.47 million units from 5.45 million units in December. Analysts had expected existing home sales to fall 2.9% to 5.32 million units last month. Separately, the U.S. Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence fell to a seven-month low of 92.2 this month from a reading of 97.8 in January, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 98.1. Analysts expected the index to fall to 97.0 in February. Meanwhile, oil prices pushed lower following bearish comments from Iran’s oil minister Bijan Zanganeh, who called last week’s output freeze deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia “ridiculous”. Last week’s proposal by Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar for oil producers to freeze output at January levels puts “unrealistic demands” on Iran, Zanganeh said according to Iranian news agency Shana. In the Bank of England’s Inflation Report hearings on Tuesday, BoE governor Mark Carney said that the central bank would treat the Brexit like any other political event. Meanwhile, Swiss National Bank Thomas Jordan warned it could not take “endless” steps to ease monetary policy. Jordan also noted that central bankers must continuously assess the effects of their monetary policies, which can weaken over time. The remarks were seen as an indication that the SNB would refrain from making further cuts to interest rates.

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