Yen stronger on European economic worries

The Japanese yen saw gains against all major currencies on Monday as worries grew that companies in Europe could begin defaulting on bonds, reducing further investor appetite for risk.

The biggest gains for the yen came versus the Brazilian real and the South African rand which traded at ¥59.562 and ¥14.689 respectively.

The US dollar dropped to ¥105.91 versus the Japanese currency before trading at ¥106.0250 at early afternoon New York time, while the yen traded at ¥206.1496 to the pound.

The euro was weaker not only in relation to the yen but against the US dollar and the pound as well before the scheduled release of the latest Ifo survey on the business climate, due on Thursday.

The euro traded at $1.4440 in relation to the US dollar at just before 1 p.m. New York time, the fifth day of decline versus the greenback as US markets were closed to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.‘s birthday, while it traded at ¥153.1001 to the euro.

While the pound declined against the yen and the US dollar, it saw gains versus the euro on comments from a member of the European Central Bank’s council that growth could slow more than expected in the Eurozone.

The pound traded at 74.27p to the euro while it took $1.9443 to buy a pound.

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