Investors Weigh Japan Bond Purchases as USD/JPY Near 100

The yen traded 0.7 percent from 100 to the dollar as traders weighed the investment intentions of Japanese fund managers after the nation’s largest life insurance firm forecast a stronger currency in a year.

The yen maintained gains against most major peers after Nippon Life Insurance Co. said yesterday it expects the yen to trade at 98 per dollar by March 31. The finance ministry is due to report foreign bond-buying data on April 25. The Australian dollar was 0.3 percent from its lowest level in more than a month before a private report is estimated to show a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing growth this month.

“We’re focused on whether life insurance companies and other Japanese investors will increase overseas investments,” said Yujiro Goto, an foreign-exchange strategist in New York at Nomura Holdings Inc. “Nippon Life’s investment plan is rather conservative, and its dollar-yen estimate that doesn’t foresee further yen weakness has caused disappointment.”

Bloomberg

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