After showing general strength earlier, the Japanese yen is now weakening against its European counterparts. Yen is still stronger against the US dollar, but against the euro and the United Kingdom pound, the Japanese yen is lower.
Japanese yen is weakening right now, following comments by outgoing finance minister Jun Azumi. Azumi is leaving the Ministry of Finance in Japan, but he was very clear that the policy would remain one of weakness for the yen, up until he leaves, and after.
Earlier, the yen had received a bit of a boost from the speculation that yen strength might be allowed in the final days of Azumi’s tenure at the Ministry of Finance, but the official allayed those concerns by emphatically stating that a weak yen policy had not changed. Forex traders also remembered last week’s easing from the Bank of Japan, which is likely to underscore the continued efforts by Japanese leaders to keep the yen relatively weak.
For now, it is mostly working, as the yen heads lower against European currencies, even as it gains against the US dollar.
At 12:51 GMT USD/JPY is a little bit lower, heading down to 77.7200 from the open at 77.8520. EUR/JPY is higher at 100.7300, up from the open at 100.6690. GBP/JPY is up to 126.3095 from the open at 126.2625.
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