CM: Asian shares higher; Dollar and Yen mostly flat
FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Equities over the Asian continent track Friday's gains on Wall Street, with exporters leading the way higher in Japan. The Nikkei is finishing the day up 1.4%, while the Hang Seng and Shanghai Compositie wrap up with gains of around 1.28% and 0.89% respectively.
Last week saw relatively strong US economic data as releases by and large came in as expected. The upcoming week holds more key US releases which will be in focus, including auto sales, Case-Shiller and the all-important GDP figures. In the Japanese market in particular, exporters have been the strongest performers as the market expects BoJ intervention if the yen continues to show strength against the dollar.
Regarding major crosses, both the US dollar and Yen are mostly flat yet recover slightly against the Euro on broad profit-taking. The EUR/USD in particular hit a daily low in 1.3447 yet has since consolidated around the 1.3460 mark.
The USD/JPY on the other hand continues sideways movement as intervention speculation continues to damper the mood. So far the pair is trading at a daily low near 84.20 yet is little changed from opening price around 84.40.
