The pair closed in NY Thursday at Y97.45. The rate earlier lifted to Y98.23 after release of strong Philly Fed data, before easing on profit take sales. Sentiment soon turned and as equities tumbled, triggering large euro-yen sales the rate gapped from Y98.10 to Y97.11. Traders noted the Nikkei futures were down 250+ points at one stage, before a bounce in stocks recovered to the close. Euro-yen advanced to Y129.82, meeting resistance ahead of the Daily Ichimoku cloud top. Sharp sales pressed gapping to eventual lows of Y128.23, before recovering to close at Y128.80. Dollar sales around the Asian open pressed to Y96.86 as traders anticipated a soft open for the Nikkei, a tech name bought in the dip lifting the rate back above Y97.00. Demand from Japanese banks extended gains to Y97.35/40, others attributed the move to large buy orders in aussie-yen. Momentum stalled on macro supply to settle around Y97.20, before a strong rally in the Nikkei led the dollar to session highs of Y97.77. The cross pressed to lows of Y128.21, before bouncing with the dollar to Y128.80, extending gains in late trade to 129.35.
