The yen’s relative resilience on Monday isn’t a one-off. It’s the only G10 currency to remain higher versus the greenback this year. Elsewhere, signs of flight from risky assets were evident in the declines in equity markets across Asia after Trump carried out his threat to impose general levies of 25% on Canada and Mexico and 10% on Chinese goods, starting on Tuesday.
The yen withstood the worst of the US dollar’s onslaught on Monday after US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs, suggesting that investors still see value in the Japanese currency as a haven in times of turmoil.
It advanced as much as 0.3% against the greenback before trading 0.3% lower at 155.61 per US dollar at 12.15pm in Tokyo. The euro was down more than 1% versus the US currency, as were the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars. Japanese government bonds were also bought as the nation’s stocks fell.
