(RTTNews) - In early New York session on Thursday, the yen drifted lower against other major currencies. The yen fell to a 6-day low against the euro and the pound and pared recent gains against the Swiss franc. Meanwhile, the yen eased from a 2-day high against the U.S. dollar.
Japanese consumer sentiment improved for the fifth consecutive month in May, a survey conducted by the Cabinet Office showed today. The consumer confidence index rose to 42.7 from 42.1 in April.
Households' consumer confidence also improved in May to 42.8 from 42 in April. Economists had expected the index to remain unchanged at 42.
Separately, Japan's final first quarter GDP report, which was also released today likely influenced the yen.
The yen inched lower against the euro and the pound during Thursday's early New York session. As of now, the yen is trading at a 6-day low of 110.62 against the euro and 133.77 against the pound, compared to yesterday's close of 109.35 and 132.61, respectively.
The European Central Bank left its key interest rate on hold for the thirteenth consecutive month in June amid Europe facing renewed tensions in the financial markets triggered by sovereign debt crisis in some vulnerable countries.
At the meeting held in Frankfurt, the Governing Council, led by President Jean-Claude Trichet retained the key interest rate at 1%. The last change in the rate was in May 2009, when the bank cut the rate by 25 basis points to the current level of 1%.
Before ECB's decision, The Bank of England decided to retain its key interest rate at a historic low and maintained the size of its asset purchase scheme at GBP 200 billion amid the eurozone sovereign debt crisis and the looming fiscal consolidation to be unveiled in the emergency budget.
At the end of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee meeting, policy makers led by Governor Mervyn King voted to retain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% as expected, despite the rising inflation. The previous change in the rate was a reduction of 0.5 percentage points in March 2009. The current rate is the lowest since the central bank was established in 1694
The yen pared its recent gains versus the Swiss currency in early New York session on Thursday. Moving down from a high of 79.53 hit at 8:45 am ET, the yen fell to 80.16 against the Swiss franc half-hour later. Presently, the yen is worth 80.10 against the franc, compared to previous day's closing quote of 79.47.
