Yen rises to 34-month high against Singdollar

SINGAPORE — The Japanese yen soared on Monday (June 13) against most major currencies on Monday (June 13), as investors bought the perceived safe-haven Japanese currency amid Brexit fears that have driven a broad rise in risk aversion.

As of 1pm (Singapore time), the yen had reached a 34-month high against the Singdollar, with S$1 trading at ¥77.88, Bloomberg data showed. The last time the yen was at this level against the Singdollar was on Sept 9, 2013 when S$1 was ¥77.79.

The yen was also up 0.93 per cent against the US dollar on Monday; while it was up 0.97 per cent against the Euro and 1.40 per cent against the British pound.

“Ahead of the (UK) referendum, many look for sterling to underperform and the yen and Swiss franc to outperform,” Mr Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, said in a note.

“Everyone’s scared,” added Mr Ryuta Otsuka, a strategist at Toyo Securities in Tokyo to Bloomberg. “There are too many events coming up for investors to take a plunge.”

Most emerging Asian currencies also fell on Monday as anxiety grew ahead of a referendum of Britain’s potential exit from the European Union and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting.

With risk sentiment hammered, emerging Asian currencies lost ground against the safe-haven yen and regional equity markets fell the most in more than two months.

The Chinese yuan slid as the central bank set its daily guidance rate weaker after last week’s long public holiday.

South Korea’s won fell to its weakest against the U.S. dollar in more than a week on importers’ demand for the greenback. The Malaysian ringgit hit a one-week trough as sliding crude prices underscored concerns over the country’s oil and gas revenues.

The US Federal Reserve, Bank of England, Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan will meet this week. All are expected to hold monetary policy steady against a backdrop of caution heightened by the global impact from a possible Brexit. WITH AGENCIES