Today the markets are once more worried over the possibility of a global economic slowdown. The latest trigger for this pessimistic stance was disappointing data from Germany, which is Europe’s biggest economy, as well as South Korea, whose first quarter GDP was lower than expected.This led to a drop in Asian stocks all around and a stronger risk aversion among investors.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific index (excluding Japan) was down 0.5%, the same as Japan’s Nikkei.
However, this development was beneficial for the Japanese yen. Japan met its recent (although very low) inflation targets, but the Bank of Japan stated that it would not change its policy until the end of this year. Still, the yen was not at all rattled by that statement and started appreciating on account of the risk aversion moves on the market.
American and European markets are currently doing better.
The current trading environment has also been good to the American dollar, with the dollar index reaching 98.189, the highest in almost two years.
The Canadian dollar and the British pound, on the other hand, have weakened.
