On Thursday, the evergreen buck stood under pressure against the Japanese yen because market participants sought asylum in a safe-haven currency, fearing possible US military action against Syria.
Geopolitical tension has shifted some focus from the confrontation between the United States and China, and the Japanese yen often attracts demand in times of market turmoil as well as political tension.
The major US currency rose to Y107,400 on Tuesday after comments by Chinese President Xi Jinping reassured fears of a trade conflict between the US and China that has swept global financial markets for the last few weeks.
However, the delay for the evergreen buck was short because the emphasis shifted to the possibility of a wider military conflict in the Middle East.
Tensions intensified after US President Donald Trump warned Russia on Wednesday about the upcoming military actions in Syria due to the alleged use of chemical weapons.
The Australian dollar declined after the publication of some economic data from Australia, as well as the resumption of trade tensions.
The currency pair USD/JPY pair tacked on 0.09% showing 106.88. The safe-haven yen managed to pick up overnight because of risk aversion after shocking reports of Trump threatening military action at Syria absorbed attention. However, as the threat didn’t appear to be imminent, in general investor risk appetite revived and the US currency gradually revived.
The AUD/USD pair dived 0.01% ending up with 0.7754. Additionally, the sentiment-linked Aussie slumped in late morning on a reviving greenback. In addition, Australia’s February home loan data offered an outcome of -0.2%, which is better than the anticipated -0.3%.
A mortgage report published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the number of mortgages in Australia fell in February at a weaker rate. The number of mortgage loans decreased by 0.2% in February after a decrease of 1.1% in January. Economists had expected a decline in the figure by 0.3%
