Yen Slumps, Japanese Investors Sell Euro Bonds

Data from the Japanese Ministry of Finance revealed that investors had sold a high amount of euro-denominated long and medium-term bonds in March 2014. 

The Tokyo-based Ministry of Finance stated today that Japanese money managers made net sales of 1.96 trillion yen equivalent to 19.2 billion U.S. dollars. Surprisingly, since the 10 months ended December 2011, this is the highest sales. The Japanese investors had purchased bonds of worth 5.39 trillion yen last year. 

Ayako Sera, a Tokyo-based market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd. stated that Ukraine crisis plays a vital role. He also stated that going forward, it is expected that the Japanese money will be forced to go back into some of the higher yielding countries in the region. 

The yen moved down by 0.1 % to 140.28 against the euro. The yen also fell down by 0.1 % against the dollar trading at the level of 101.97 per dollar. When compared for the year on year basis, the Japanese yen had advanced by 3.2 % against the euro this year. While against the dollar, yen advanced by 3.3 % this year.