Japanese Yen Gains Against US Dollar on Worsening Russia-Ukraine Tensions

The Japanese yen fell slightly against the US dollar on Friday, erasing some of the gains accrued on the day. However, the safe-haven currency thrived against the dollar from a weekly time-frame perspective amid the worsening Russia-Ukraine tensions.

In the New York session on Friday, the USD climbed by 10 basis points (bps) against the yen, printing a daily high at 115.29. On the weekly chart, the dollar fell by 0.37% against the yen, its worst weekly decline in four weeks. Meanwhile, the greenback also climbed against the Swiss franc by 0.13% and recorded a daily top at 0.9218.

In other news, growing worries over a possible Ukraine invasion by Russia ignited increased demand for safe-haven bonds as the US Treasury yields dropped.

On February 18, leaders of Russian-sponsored eastern Ukrainian separatists revealed that they plan on evacuating residents of their region to Russia, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized Russia for facilitating false provocations around the border area.

On a lighter note, news reports on Thursday, which showed that Blinken had accepted an invitation to have in-person talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later this week, eased investors tensions on Friday.

Japanese Yen Remains Soft: Edward Moya

Commenting on the political standoff between Russia and Ukraine, Senior Market Analyst at Oanda Edward Moya noted: “Everyone is fixated over what’s happened with the Ukraine situation. There’s a tremendous amount of nervousness. Everyone is hoping for some type of de-escalation, but it just doesn’t seem like that is the direction things are going.” Moya added:

“The trade has been about safe-havens, and it’s been a great week for the Japanese yen. Today the yen is slightly softer, but the overall concern right now is you’re entering the long weekend, and you still have a lot [of] rhetoric coming out of Russia.”