(Bloomberg) — The yen rallied the most in nearly a month, pulling back from levels that traders speculated would spark Japanese intervention, as rising tensions in the Middle East spurred a selloff in riskier assets.
The currency strengthened about 0.3% in New York, the most since March 8 on a closing basis, to 151.22 per dollar. The yen was among the day’s top Group-of-10 performers. It gained along with Treasuries and oil, while US stocks tumbled.
“You are seeing the old safe havens (Treasuries, the Swiss franc and more impressively the yen) rallying on the back of rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East,” Paresh Upadhyaya, director of fixed income and currency strategy at Amundi, US, said in an email.
Haven assets also advanced ahead of a key report Friday on the US job market, which risks amping up market volatility by spurring traders to adjust bets on the timing of expected Federal Reserve policy easing.
The labor data is forecast to show that US employers added more than 200,000 nonfarm positions for a fourth straight month in March. While that’s down from the peaks seen the past couple years, it still points to healthy demand for workers and may fuel speculation that the Fed will delay rate cuts until the second half of the year.
“The market is getting a little nervous going into tomorrow’s print,” said Brad Bechtel, global head of FX at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. “There is also a jump in volatility.”
For this year, the yen is still among the weakest major currencies, undermined by interest-rate differentials. The yen weakened to a 34-year low late last month and came within a whisker of 152 per dollar, a level that market observers speculate will trigger Japanese authorities to step in to support it.
Traders have leaned into bets on a weaker yen as the Bank of Japan signaled last month that it isn’t about to embark on a series of rate increases after tightening policy for the first time in 17 years.
–With assistance from Augusta Saraiva.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
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