3rd Jan 2014 06:29
CANBERA (Alliance News) - The yen rallied across the board on Friday morning in Asia as sagging equity markets in the Asia-Pacific region lifted safe-haven currencies.
Equity markets in Asia fell following its overnight negative trading on Wall Street as traders collected profits from recent sessions' rallies despite some encouraging economic data. Japanese markets remained closed and will be re-opened on January 6.
The US jobless claims fell for a second straight week and manufacturing activity held near a two-and-a-half-year high in the month of December. Besides, the euro-zone purchasing managers' index beat market expectations. These positive factors, however, failed to impact stocks and currencies as well.
The US Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped 2000 to 339,000 in the week ended December 28 from the previous week's revised figure of 341,000. The figure from the previous week was upwardly revised from the 338,000 originally reported.
A Commerce Department report on Thursday showed the US construction spending rose 1.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of USD934.4 billion in November from the revised October estimate of USD925.1 billion.
The Institute for Supply Management said its purchasing managers index edged down to 57.0 in December from 57.3 in November, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector. Nonetheless, the modest decline was in line with economists' estimates.
Latest data from from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed that the nation's non-manufacturing business activity index came in at a seasonally adjusted score of 54.6 in December. That remains comfortably above the boom-or-bust score of 50 that separates expansion from contraction, although the December reading is down sharply from 56.0 in November.
The yen climbed to an 11-day high of 142.22 against the euro and a fresh 2-week high of 115.72 against the Swiss franc, improving from last week's fresh 5-year low of 145.68 and a record low of 119.17, respectively. The next likely resistance levels for the yen are seen at 141.50 against the euro and 115.35/40 against the Swiss franc, the levels at which the 30-day simple moving average lies in both pairs.
Extending its overnight rallies, the yen rose to a 10-day high of 104.16 against the US dollar and an 8-day high of 171.05 against the pound, well-above from last week's fresh 5-year lows of 105.44 and 174.85, respectively. On the upside, the Japanese currency may find target levels at 170.0 against the sterling and 103.80 against the greenback.
The yen jumped to an 11-day high of 97.71 against the Canadian dollar, 8-day high of 85.37 against the NZ dollar and a 2-day high of 92.90 against the Australian dollar. If the yen extends its rally, likely resistance levels are seen at 85.10 against the kiwi, 97.20 against the loonie and 92.30 against the aussie.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX