The US Dollar struck a fresh 8-week peak versus the Japanese Yen ahead of the start of a 2-day monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve Bank. Calm over the North Korean missile threat is also helping to ease the demand for safe haven currencies. US President Trump will be giving a speech before the United Nations later today and analysts believe he is likely to urge the UN to put additional pressure on the North Korean government to take a step back from its nuclear ambition. That Trump is seeking a more diplomatic resolution to the North Korean crisis, rather than his previous posturing, is also helping to support the Dollar.
As reported at 11:55 am (BST) in London, the USD/JPY is up 0.11% and trading at 111.662 Yen; the pair had earlier hit a peak of 111.881 Yen while the session low stands at 111.350 Yen. The EUR/JPY is higher by 0.41% and trading at 133.859 Yen; the pair has ranged from a low of 133.200 Yen to a peak of 134.1730 Yen.
German Survey Lifts Euro
In the Eurozone, the Euro continues to get a bounce from today’s release of an unexpectedly upbeat ZEW survey of German businesses. Both the current situation and economic sentiment came in with better than expected readings of 87.9 and 17.0, respectively, for September. As the Eurozone’s primary economic driver, a robust economic reading from Germany typically translates to improvement in the Eurozone, as a whole. However, in contrast, the ZEW survey of the Eurozone was somewhat disappointing; the economic sentiment reading hit 31.7, shy of analysts’ forecasts of a rise to 32.4; for reference, August’s reading was 29.3. The EUR/USD was higher at $1.1984, a rise of 0.28%; the pair is well off the session peak of $1.20065.
