Yen surges broadly in Asia

The yen surged across the board on Friday as weak US economic data and uncertainty after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto prompted investors to dump risky positions such as carry trades.
The dollar was under pressure near two-week lows against the euro and the Swiss franc after falling sharply on Thursday when a soft US durable goods report was taken by investors as boosting the case for more interest rate cuts by the Fed next year.
Analysts said the crisis in Pakistan was eroding market sentiment and making investors risk averse ahead of a long New Year holiday next week in Japan, hurting higher-yielding currencies like the Australian dollar as investors unwound carry trades.
Japanese financial markets will be closed from Monday to Thursday next week, reopening for a half day on January 4. "Those who built yen selling positions during Christmas are now dropping them," said Tohru Sasaki, chief forex strategist for J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. The dollar fell 0.7 percent to 112.90 yen tumbling from a seven-week high of 114.66 yen hit on electronic trading platform EBS on Thursday.
The Aussie fell 1 percent against the Japanese currency to 98.70 yen as selling by Japanese securities houses emerged and dragged other high-yielding currencies lower against the yen, traders said. The euro fell 0.6 percent to 165.25 yen while the New Zealand dollar lost 0.7 percent to 87.00 yen.
Traders said the news of Bhutto's killing came just as market players were rebuilding positions to sell the dollar after Christmas holidays. "Growing uncertainty after the Bhutto assassination is making the dollar vulnerable," said Shuichi Kanehira, a senior trader for Mizuho Corporate Bank. "The market seems likely to react with dollar selling if there is more news that raises concerns about geopolitical risks," said a senior trader for another Japanese bank.
The euro edged up to $1.4630 near a two-week high of $1.4640 hit on EBS in the previous session. The Swiss franc rose 0.2 percent against the dollar to 1.1370 francs and hit a two-week high of 1.1364 on EBS.