Thursday in Asia, the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen registered strong gains against their major counterparts as investors moved toward safe-have currencies as the rating agency Standard & Poor's kept Greece's 'BBB+' long-term and 'A-2' short-term sovereign credit ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications.
"In our view, a further downgrade of one to two notches is possible within a month," S&P's credit analyst Marko Mrsnik said on Wednesday.
On December 16, the rating agency had lowered the long-term rating to its current level and maintained it on CreditWatch. At the same time, it placed the short-term rating on CreditWatch with negative implications. Since then, the Greek government has taken measures to cut its budget deficit to 8.7% of GDP by the end of 2010 from the current 12.7%.
A decline in most Asian stocks also boosted the safe-haven currencies today.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.95%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.7%, South Korea's Kospi declined 1.6%, Australia's S&P 200 index slipped 1.2% and the All Ordinaries index dropped 1.1%.
The yen gained against the US dollar in Asian deals on Thursday and hit a 15-day high of 89.34 at 1:40 am ET. On the upside, 88.6 is seen as the next target level for the Japanese yen. The dollar-yen pair that closed yesterday's trading at 90.18 is presently worth 89.5.
During Asian deals on Thursday, the yen climbed to a 1-year high of 120.27 against the euro. The next upside target level for the yen is seen at 113.6. Currently, the euro-yen pair is worth 120.6, compared to 122.10 hit late New York Wednesday.
The yen edged up against the currencies of UK and Switzerland in Asian deals on Thursday. At 1:40 am ET, the yen reached new multi-month highs of 136.90 against the pound and 82.17 against the franc, compared to yesterday's close of 138.95 and 83.43, respectively. If the yen advances further, it may target 80.0 against the franc and 130.0 against the pound.
In Asian trading on Thursday, the yen jumped against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts. At 1:40 am ET, the yen hit a 12-day high of 79.19 against the aussie, 15-day high of 84.48 against the loonie and a 16-day high of 61.39 against the kiwi. The next upside target level for the yen is seen at 76.3 against the aussie, 82.5 against the loonie and 60.8 against the kiwi.
At present, the yen is worth 79.6 against the aussie, 84.8 against the loonie and 61.7 against the kiwi. The aussie-yen pair closed yesterday's deals at 80.58, loonie-yen pair at 86.63 and the kiwi-yen pair at 62.55.
The dollar jumped against the pound in Asian deals on Thursday. At present, the dollar is trading at a new 9-month high of 1.532 against the pound with 1.520 seen as the next target level. The pound-dollar pair closed yesterday's trading at 1.5408.
The Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested during a congressional hearing yesterday that U.S. low interest-rate policy is likely to be in place for the time being because the job market is weak and inflation will remain subdued. But he added the Fed will begin monetary tightening ''at some point'' to stem inflationary pressures.
In Asian deals on Thursday, the dollar strengthened against the currencies of Europe and Switzerland. At 11:25 pm ET, the dollar reached a 6-day high of 1.5453 against the euro and 1.0881 against the franc, compared to yesterday's close of 1.3540 and 1.0814, respectively. Since then, the dollar has been moving sideways and currently trading at 1.087 against the franc and 1.347 against the euro. If the dollar climbs further, it may likely target 1.090 against the franc and 1.5445 against the euro.
Looking ahead, the French consumer confidence indicator for February, PPI for January, Swiss employment report for the fourth quarter, Italian business confidence for February, German unemployment rate for February and the Euro-zone economic confidence report for February are expected to influence trading in the upcoming hours.
From the U.S., the durable goods orders report for January, weekly jobless claims data for the week ended February 20 and the house price index for December have been slated for release in the New York session.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.