Yen Extends Fall As Most Asian Markets Traded Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese yen extended its early slide against other major currencies in the Asian session on Monday, as most Asian stocks traded higher in thin holiday trade, with Australian, New Zealand and Hong Kong markets closed for Easter holiday.

Investor sentiment lifted after the release of U.S. jobs data on Friday. The U.S. data bolstered bets the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates by 25 basis points in its May 2-3 meeting.

The Labor Department said on Friday that employment in the U.S. increased roughly in line with forecasts in March as non-farm payroll employment climbed by 236,000 jobs after jumping by an upwardly revised 326,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to rise by about 240,000 jobs compared to the addition of 311,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Also, the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent in March from 3.6 percent in February; the unemployment rate was expected to be unchanged.

The safe-haven yen started falling against its major rivals on Friday.

In the Asian trading today, the yen fell to 6-day lows of 144.67 against the euro, 164.76 against the pound and 132.74 against the U.S. dollar, from Friday's closing quotes of 144.01, 163.99 and 132.14, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 146.00 against the euro, 167.00 against the pound and 135.00 against the greenback.

Moving away from Friday's closing value of 145.95 against the Swiss franc, the yen declined to nearly a 4-week low of 146.49. On the downside, 148.00 is seen as the next support level for the yen.

Against the Australia, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the yen dropped to a 5-day low of 88.42, a 4-day low of 82.83 and a 6-day low of 98.24 from last week's closing quotes of 88.04, 82.58 and 97.74, respectively. The next support level for the yen is seen around 92.00 against the aussie, 85.00 against the kiwi and 100.00 against the loonie.

Looking ahead, U.S. wholesale inventories data for February is due to be released at 10 :00 am ET.