Tuesday in Asia, the US dollar and the Japanese yen weakened against their major opponents as a rally in most Asian stocks lifted traders's risk appetite and thus reduced demand for safe-haven currencies.
Although, the Japanese stock market reached its lowest level in nearly three weeks, other markets in the region registered notable gains today.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1%, China's Shangai composite index soared 1.3%, Australia's S&P 200 index advanced 0.7% and the All Ordinaries index was 0.6% higher, New Zealand's NZX 50 index gained 0.6%, South Korea's composite index rose 0.3% and Taiwan's main index advanced 0.41%.
The yen declined to as low as 133.09 against the pound and 87.15 against the US dollar before moving sideways around 11:40 pm ET. The yen that closed Monday's North American deals at 132.05 against the pound and 86.70 against the buck is presently quoted at 132.88 and 87.10, respectively.
The yen also fell against the euro and the Swiss franc at this time, slipping to as low as 113.07 and 82.80, respectively. The yen that ended yesterday's deals at 82.19 against the franc and 112.21 against the euro is presently quoted at 82.68 and 112.92, respectively.
The yen also drifted lower against the resource-linked currencies in early Asian trading on Tuesday.
The yen fell to a 4-day low of 76.62 against the Australian dollar and 62.18 against the New Zealand dollar around 11:40 pm ET, compared to yesterday's closing quotes of 75.30 and 61.23, respectively.
On the downside, the Japanese currency may find support levels at 78.70 against the aussie and 62.90 against the kiwi. Currently, the yen is quoted at 62.04 against the NZ dollar and 76.40 versus the Australian dollar.
The aussie that eased amid the release of the RBA's July meeting minutes at 9:30 pm ET staged a rebound shortly.
According to the minutes, the Reserve Bank of Australia adopted a "wait-and-see" approach in keeping rates unchanged at its July Monetary Policy meeting. At that meeting, the Official Cash Rate was left unchanged at 4.50 percent.
Minutes also showed RBA members were briefed on "ongoing tensions" in the European financial markets, noting that Moody's had downgraded Greece's debt in mid-June.
The yen also edged lower to 83.0 against the Canadian dollar around 11:35 pm ET and this may be compared to yesterday's close of 82.21. The loonie-yen pair is presently worth 82.87 with 83.70 seen as the next likely target level.
The US dollar also edged slightly lower against their European major rivals on Tuesday in Asia. The greenback dropped to as low as 1.0528 against the Swiss franc, 1.5269 against the pound and 1.2975 against the euro before moving on hold around 11:25 pm ET.
The greenback that closed yesterday's deals at 1.5231 against the pound, 1.0553 versus the Swiss franc and 1.2943 against the euro is currently quoted at 1.5261, 1.0540 and 1.2970, respectively.
Looking ahead, Japan's final leading and coincident indexes report for May is due at 1:00 am ET.
The German PPI for June, Italian industrial orders for May, U.K. M4 money supply and the mortgage approvals data for June are expected in the European session.
The U.S. housing starts and building permits report for June has been slated for release at 8:30 am ET.
At 9:00 am ET, the Bank of Canada is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision. Economists are expecting the bank to raise its key lending rate by 0.25% to 0.75%.
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