Yen Falls Amid Risk Appetite

(RTTNews) - The Japanese yen weakened against other major currencies in the European session on Wednesday, as investors digested mixed earnings results and looked ahead to the release of more U.S. data this week for clues on when the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates.

Meanwhile, new data showed earlier today that German wholesale prices continued to decline in February.

Wholesale prices dropped 3.0 percent on a yearly basis, sharper than the 2.7 percent fall in January.

Elsewhere, data showed the U.K. economy grew modestly in January, after falling into a technical recession in the second half of last year.

GDP posted an expansion of 0.2 percent in January, reversing a 0.1 percent fall in December, driven by services and construction output.

In the Asian session today, the yen traded higher against its major rivals. In the European trading now, the yen fell to a 5-day low of 161.73 against the euro, from an early high of 160.90. On the downside, 163.00 is seen as the next support level for the yen.

Against the pound, the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the yen slipped to 189.26, 148.05 and 168.50 from early highs of 188.42, 147.24 and 167.82, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 192.00 against the pound, 150.00 against the greenback and 170.00 against the franc.

Against the Australia and the Canadian dollars, the yen slid to 5-day lows of 97.80 and 109.75 from early highs of 97.24 and 109.13, respectively. The yen may test support near 99.00 against the aussie and 111.00 against the loonie.

Moving away from an early high of 90.53 against the NZ dollar, the yen dropped to a 2-day low of 91.12. The yen is likely to find support near the 93.00 region.

Looking ahead, U.S. MBA mortgage approvals data, U.K. NIESR monthly GDP tracker and U.S. EIA crude oil data are slated for release in the New York session.