Asia Session - August 17, 2009 1:58 AM

The Yen started off the week with a good deal of strength as investors seem to think that there are bumps ahead in the road to the much heralded global recovery. With US consumer confidence sagging and a carry-over from Wall Street on Friday pushing Asian stocks lower by over 2% in China and Japan, the Yen crosses were sold early and often in the session. Lower equities helped to cast shadows on growth and traders were eager to take profits from higher yielding risk trades. EUR/JPY was at its session high just over the 134.50 level early, but as stocks headed south, the crosses followed, with the pair touching a low near 133.60. GBP/JPY took a bigger hit as it fell from the 156.50 area to just a touch over the 155.30 level, and AUD/JPY and NZD/JPY shed 100 pips and close to 80 pips respectively on the day. USD/JPY broke the 94.85 level to the topside, but selling of dollars by Japanese exporters sent the pair below the 94.50 level. Japanese GDP data came in at 0.9%, and although lower than the 1.1% forecast, it showed that Japan has emerged from its worst recession since World War II. Although this data helped to make Japan one of the first economies to escape the recession, it was not enough to help curb the markets risk aversion. Full text »