The yen rose on Monday, hitting its highest in more than two weeks against the euro, as weak US consumer morale clouded the outlook for a quick global recovery and spurred profit-taking in commodity-linked currencies. The Australian and New Zealand dollars shed about 1 percent against the Japanese currency and the US dollar, extending a fall which began on Friday and saw them stumble from their latest 2009 highs against the greenback.
Both currencies have been popular with investors betting they will be among the first to benefit from economic recovery and they have rallied in tandem with stock and commodity markets. But Asian share markets were down Monday, with the Shanghai Composite index sliding more than 4 percent and extending last week's 6.6 percent drop. Falls were broad-based, with oil prices also falling below $67 a barrel and extending Friday's 4.3 percent decline as investors continued to book profits from recent gains in risk assets.
Analysts said investors will likely continue cutting long positions in risky assets and buy the yen and the dollar back if other emerging markets which have been trading firmly start falling together with the slide in Chinese stocks. Indian shares shed more than 2 percent, while the South Korean stock market lost 2.7 percent.
"In the long run, buying of risky assets with economic recovery hopes will likely to continue. But a short-term correction of those trades looks set to stay for this week or a few more weeks, pushing the dollar and yen up and cross/yen down," said a currency analyst for a US bank. Consumer confidence fell in August for the second straight month and revived concern about the US economic turnaround.
"Weak data is no longer treated as a harbinger of an economic apocalypse, but as an indication that the forthcoming period of growth is likely to be frustratingly tepid relative to the rich valuations of risk-sensitive asset markets," said David Watt, a senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
The dollar also fell against the yen but its losses were mild after a half-yen fall on Friday, and it was up on the day against the euro. The greenback dropped 0.3 percent from late New York levels to 94.60 yen, close to its lowest for the month but still within a broad range of 91.70-98.00 seen since mid-June.
Traders said selling by Japanese exporters and by Japanese securities houses had weighed it down, while speculation about repatriation of receipts from US Treasury coupons and redemptions also contributed to its fall. Japan's economy grew for the first time in five quarters in the April-June period, expanding 0.9 percent and ending its longest recession in decades on the back of exports and government stimulus spending.
The data puts Japan in the first camp of G7 economies that have pulled out of recession, but analysts say the road to sustainable recovery will be long. Traders said the data was positive but in line with expectations. Dealers said the euro fell against the yen after hitting stop-loss sell orders at 134.00 yen. It was down 0.7 percent at Y133.80.
"Euro/yen is still range-trading. In the short term I think there will be some selling pressure but in the medium term it's still in a range," a senior trader a big European bank said.
The euro shed 0.4 percent to $1.4148, retreating further from this month's 2009 peak of $1.4448. The Australian dollar was well below an 11-month high of $0.8479 struck on Friday, trading at $0.8220, and was on the defensive at 77.76 yen, down 1 percent. It was also under-performing its New Zealand counterpart, striking its lowest in four months at NZ$1.2232, according to Reuters data. The kiwi dollar fell 1 percent to $0.6700 and 63.28 yen.
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