Dollar sweeps higher, Japan shares shy from peaks
The U.S. dollar held on to broad-based gains in Asia on Tuesday in a boon for shares of Japanese exporters but a burden for oil, gold and stocks in the energy majors.
As the dollar finally broke to a six-year peak on the yen and a one-year top on the euro, Brent oil sank to 16-month lows while gold carved out a three-month trough.
A falling yen tends to be viewed as positive for Japanese exporters and corporate profits, and helped nudge the Nikkei to its highest close since January.
Markets elsewhere in the region were subdued, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down a slight 0.1%.
Despite market concerns over China’s economy, stocks there have been buoyed by talk of more stimulus and reform measures.
Investors were eagerly awaiting the launch of new products by Apple later on Tuesday in a much-hyped event at Cupertino, California.
Apple has fed high expectations, with promises by executives that the company’s best product pipeline in 25 years is being readied inside its secretive facilities.
In currencies, the dollar index climbed as far as 84.496, bringing into view the July 2013 peak of 84.753. A break there will take it to highs not seen since July 2010.
The greenback raced to a high of 106.33 yen while the euro slumped to a low of $1.2868. Investors were already giving the common currency a wide berth after the European Central Bank surprised on Thursday with a fresh round of stimulus.
Source: Reuters
