EURUSD opened Asia at 1.3591 after the euphoria of the German EFSF vote had worn off and euro came under pressure again from a stronger US dollar as risk aversion resurfaced sending risk currencies lower. EURUSD fell from a session high of 1.3600 to 1.3521.
GBPUSD opened in Asia at 1.5616 after falling 135 pips in the previous US session on dampened sentiment as a jittery markets sold off risk as euro zone debt concerns still linger. The pair consolidated in Asia hovering around the previous session low of 1.5576. EURGBP opened Asia at 0.8700 and fell in line with other euro pairs from an early high of 0.8709 to 0.8675.
Yen gained across the board in Asia reacting to a series of positive economic data from Japan. Unemployment fell and annual CPI rose. Also Japanese exporters sold off the dollar against yen to square off positions for month-end and quarter-end balancing of books. This pushed USDJPY lower from 76.83 open to 76.50.
The Australian dollar was choppy against the US dollar in Asian trading. AUDUSD was initially lifted to 0.9808 after New Zealand was downgraded and investors shifted funds to Australia to safeguard their assets, so the pair tracked the rise in AUDNZD. The aussie then eased off to fall to 0.9732 against the greenback.
The New Zealand dollar was under pressure on Friday after two of the major ratings agencies downgraded the country. The kiwi was further jolted after weak Business confidence index declined last month. NZDUSD fell to a session low of 0.7636 from the open price of 0.7708.
