By Stephen L. Bernard Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–The yen was the big winner in Thursday trading as investors sought safety following some disappointing news out of the euro zone and end-of-fiscal-year repatriation of the Japanese currency.
U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product and weekly jobless claims reports, which fell shy of economists’ forecasts, did little to dissuade investors from continuing to buy the yen at the expense of the dollar and euro in early North American trading.
While the U.S. data re-affirm the positive trajectory of the economy, the reports were not enough Thursday to sway investors from their previous views, said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.
The dollar briefly fell below Y82 for the first time since March 9, but was most recently at Y82.16, according to EBS via CQG. It traded at Y82.89 late Wednesday. The euro fell to Y108.95 from Y110.47 late Wednesday.
Esiner said traditional repatriation of yen before the end of the Japanese fiscal year helped the Japanese currency in recent days. The dollar is down about 2% against the yen in the past week.
Moody’s downgraded five Portuguese banks earlier Thursday, adding to concern about that country’s finances and renewing the spotlight on the euro zone’s ability to stem another flare up of its ongoing sovereign debt crisis.
Manufacturers and companies in the 17-nation currency bloc were also gloomier about their prospects in March, which hurt the euro and sent investors toward the safety of the yen.
With sentiment leaning toward safe harbors, the dollar did rally against higher yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar, which are more prone to fluctuations in risk sentiment.
The Australian dollar was at $1.0345 from $1.0388 late Wednesday, according to CQG.
The euro was at $1.3280 from $1.3317.
-By Stephen L. Bernard, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-4528; stephen.bernard@dowjones.com
Source Article from http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120329-711713.html
