27.03.201405:30:42UTC+00Japanese Yen Reaches One-Week High

The yen bolster to a one-week high against the dollar amid concern Western nations will increase pressure on Russia after U.S. President Barack Obama warned versus indifference over the annexation of Crimea.

Japan’s currency continued a two-day surge versus the euro and is set for the first quarterly hike in six periods before the Asian nation publishes data on consumer financial values tomorrow. The U.S. dollar stayed greater against Europe’s shared currency before a report today that may display a more rapid development than previously computed in the world’s largest economy. New Zealand’s dollar soared for a fifth day after its trade surplus was bigger-than-projected last month.

“The problem between Russia and Ukraine remains unsolved and the market is closely monitoring to what extent Europe will follow the U.S. in adopting sanctions,” said Kazuo Shirai a trader at Union Bank NA in Los Angeles. “The yen broke 102 per dollar amid risk aversion. I expect a volatile market until the situation in Russia stabilizes.”

The yen rallied 0.2 percent to 101.86 per dollar as of 11 a.m. in Tokyo. It reached 101.72 earlier today, the best performing mark since March 19. It’s set for a 3.4 percent quarterly advance, the largest since June 2012. Japan’s currency boosted 0.1 percent to 140.47 per euro after soaring to 140.27, a level not seen since March 5. It has skyrocketed 3 percent since December 31, set for the first hike since the three months ended September 2012.

The dollar fetched $1.3787 against its European counterpart. It inched up 0.4 percent over two days to $1.3781 yesterday, paring a decline this quarter to 0.3 percent.

New Zealand’s kiwi jumped 0.4 percent to 86.22 U.S. cents and reached the topmost mark since March 19 at 86.26. The currency has leaped 5 percent this year, the most among its 16 major counterparts.

Russia Challenge

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares backslide 0.4 percent.

The U.S. and Europe are at “a moment of testing,” as Russia challenges the ideals of democracy, free markets and international policies that have disseminated prosperity and peace, Obama stated in a speech yesterday in Brussels.

The U.S. and European Union have imposed monetary penalties on Russian and Ukrainian officials as well associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, leaving open the threat of broader penalties aiming the Russian economy.

The yen bolstered 2.4 percent in the past three months versus nine other developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The dollar relinquished 1.1 percent, while the euro pulled back 0.8 percent.

Japan Inflation

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predict a report tomorrow will display Japan’s consumer price index excluding fresh food rallied 1.3 percent in February from 12 months earlier, matching the largest hike in five years and more than halfway to the Bank of Japan’s 2 percent inflation goal.

Analysts in a different poll say gross domestic product in the U.S. possibly progressed at a 2.7 percent annualized rate from October through December, compared with the government’s projection of 2.4 percent issued last month. The Commerce Department will publish the data today.

Statistics New Zealand said today the nation had a trade surplus of NZ$818 million ($705 million) last month, bigger than the NZ$600 million projected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the most since April 2011.

New Zealand Finance Minister Bill English said the strength of his country’s dollar poses a challenge for exporters.

“It’s a bit too high,” English said yesterday in an interview in Hong Kong, while attending the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference. “It makes it difficult for our economy to rebalance.”