Another down day for yen crosses as regional stock markets sank and EM market jitters continued to spook the market ahead of the lunar new year holiday weekend. Many major centers in the region are closed tomorrow, with some extending the holidays to next week. Dollar-yen saw a sharp gap lower to Y102.29 after it opened at Y102.93 and then spent the rest of the session holding near those lows. It eased further to Y102.07 after Japanese stocks opened down and as yen crosses remained pressured. Euro-yen meanwhile opened at Y139.75, and after a brief spike to Y139.83, retreated to Y139.39 about an hour after the Japanese stock market opening. Euro-yen did however find minor support after the earlier Y139.39 low as euro-dollar came off its morning lows. Dollar-yen was last at Y102.34, while the cross was at Y139.70. Dollar-yen bids ahead of the Y101.77/80 region have again stalled the move lower for dollar-yen with the pair having bounced from the Y101.84 low that immediately followed the FOMC release. A close above Y103.86 is needed to shift focus away from further attempts to take outthe Y101.80/60 support area.
