The pair closed in NY Wednesday at Y99.06, just off session lows of Y98.965. Rate had traded with a heavy tone through Europe/NY trade Wednesday following on from disappointing comments from PM Abe, followed by lack lustre announcement from GPIF and soft US data. Into Tokyo trade and yen again moved in tandem with Nikkei, initially dipping to Y98.86 before recovering to Y99.43. Rate then drifted back to Y98.97 before lifting sharply higher in late Asian dealing to Y99.47 as the Nikkei performed an impressive late recovery. This move sparked rumours in Asia suggesting possible official help though this was not confirmed. Euro-yen tracked dollar-yen moves, initially easing to Y129.43 before bouncing up to Y130.06 before drifting off to Y129.71 into the Asian afternoon. Late Nikkei recovery boosted this rate to a session high of Y130.30, holding back toward Y130.00 into Europe. Despite this late recovery in dollar-yen the downside remains favoured with technical traders continuing to see room down to Y97.50/30. Ahead of this traders report decent demand between Y98.60/50 with stops below. Resistance Y99.50 through to Y100.00 with stops mixed in through Y99.70/75.
