The Yen

JPY Falls on Downgrade, USD Edges Higher
by Korman Tam
The greenback was higher against the euro and yen, rising to 1.5669 and 107.90, respectively. The dollar continues to benefit from further declines in oil, which fell to $123.63 per barrel, and renewed confidence stemming from government measures to support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Hawkish Fed commentary has also propped the currency higher. The Fed's Plosser reiterated his view that current interest rates at 2% are pretty low and ultimately, rates have to go up. He said it was important to protect the Fed's credibility by reinforcing its commitment to low inflation through action. Plosser added that it would be too late if the Fed waited for inflation expectations to become unanchored.

Markets will look ahead to Thursday's economic reports consisting of weekly jobless claims and existing home sales. Weekly jobless claims are estimated to increase to 375k, up from 366k a week earlier. Existing home sales are seen slipping to 4.93 million in June units versus 4.99 million units a month earlier.