The yen fell against all its major counterparts after the Health Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki, who oversees the Government Pension Investment Fund, announced its intention to hold a series of reforms. Shiozaki signaled that he was not in a hurry to make changes to the law on how the fund may invest. Minister developed this theme in the course of communicating with a group of journalists, saying: “good” law – it is better than something hastily drawn up, but “we also need to think about what can be done even without a change in the law.” The bottom line is that the reforms could lead to an increase in purchases of foreign assets, and it puts pressure on the Japanese yen.
In general, a set of factors, from the perspectives of monetary policy to growth and geopolitical tensions between large investment managers on the eve of the end of the quarter, prompted investors to buy safe-haven assets.
Dollar exchange rate closes its sixth consecutive week on the back of improving the growth performance of the American economy. This increases the chances that next year the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates. In the meantime, the market will wait for the report on employment in the United States next Friday for orientation with respect to the health of the economy.
