Japanese Yen Continues to Strengthen Across the Board as Risk Appetite Falters

[DailyFx]

JPY traded on a firmer footing, with risk appetite waning amid fresh concerns over the global growth outlook after the recent U.S. employment numbers. Ahead of the G8 meeting the dollar's reserve status is the subject of fresh debate, which has also encouraged a reduction in risky positions and beneficial for JPY due to a general flight to low yield currencies. USD-JPY traded at the lower end of its recent range and challenged support ahead of 95.00, while the JPY crosses are being pressured by a general unwinding of exposure to the dollar pairings. EUR, GBP and AUD have been weighed against the dollar and the yen, with EUR-JPY hitting 132.45, GBP-JPY traded in to 153.45 and AUD-JPY traded in to 75.00. Bond related flows is a potential JPY positives over the next week or so, with Eurozone bond redemptions of EUR 31.5 bln together with EUR 13.4 bln in coupons. Meanwhile, another source of JPY demand is a mooted USD 4.7 bln equivalent of JPY purchases in the coming weeks following a Nikkei report, which said that three large Japanese corporates are expected to raise capital in the coming weeks from foreign investors. The week of July 20th should see the largest concentration of flows.