Dollar pulls back slightly against the yen

Published: 29 Aug at 9 AM Tags: Euro, Dollar,

Although the cloud of geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East continues to hang over the money markets, the US dollar has managed to regain some ground against the yen. The Japanese currency, considered a safe haven by investors, hit a three-week high against the greenback yesterday. However, the dollar is currently up from 96.81 yen to 97.63 yen.

The market remains cautious as investors watch to see if the West will launch military action against Syria following last week’s chemical weapon attacks on civilians, allegedly ordered by the country’s President.

A case was made on Wednesday by US President Barack Obama for a strike against Syria. However, it is likely to be limited in scope if it does go ahead. Against the yen the euro is down 0.1 per cent to 130.17 yen, but is remaining steady against the dollar at $1.3335.

The Australian dollar has climbed 0.3 per cent against its US rival to $0.8972 and is also up 0.4 per cent against the yen to 87.57 yen.

Emerging market currencies have been hit recently by a combination of geopolitical risk and expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon begin to draw in its policy of quantitative easing. This week both the Turkish lira and Indian rupee hit record lows against the dollar.