Sterling, Japanese yen slump on investor anxiety over public finances
Sterling and the Japanese yen slumped on Tuesday on the back of growing investor anxiety about government finances, allowing the dollar to claw back some ground after five days of selling.
Renewed pressure on bond markets, with Britain’s 30-year borrowing costs rising to their highest levels since 1998, spilled over into currency markets, while gold hit fresh record highs.
Sterling fell 1% to $1.3413, its lowest level since August 22, while the dollar firmed by 0.6% to 148.07 yen.
The euro firmed against both sterling and yen by 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
While sterling was weighed down by lingering worries over the UK’s fiscal position ahead of a budget later this year, dovish-leaning remarks from a Bank of Japan official and the resignation of a key ruling party official pulled down the yen.
Finance minister Rachel Reeves is expected to raise taxes in her autumn budget in order to remain on course for her fiscal targets, potentially adding to the challenge of speeding up the UK economy.
For the Japanese yen, heightened political uncertainty is likely to remain a drag, while the lack of a hawkish policy signal from Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino on Tuesday will encourage speculators to continue rebuilding short yen positions, Hardman said.
The dollar also drew support from an uptick in U.S. Treasury yields as investors hone in on key U.S. labour market data due this week for cues on the path of benchmark interest rates.
Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar was up 0.3% at 98.1.
The interest rate expectations-sensitive 2-year U.S. Treasury yield was up 2 bps at around 3.6474% after hitting its lowest level since May last week. U.S. markets were shut on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
Money markets are currently pricing in a near 90% chance that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points this month, but those wagers could be tested by U.S. economic data due this week.
Data due this week include ISM’s manufacturing and services purchasing managers’ indices and the non-farm payrolls report.
Source : Reuters
