Japanese Yen Advances Amid Rising Risk Aversion

(RTTNews) - The Japanese yen strengthened against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Wednesday, amid rising risk aversion as worries about a recession intensified.

A spike in COVID-19 cases in China renewed worries about potential lockdowns.

Crude oil prices plunged overnight amid global recession fears and the possibility of more lockdowns in China.

Shanghai announced new rounds of mass testing for most of the city, sparking fears that authorities may reimpose lockdown measures amid zero Covid policy.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve will release the minutes from the June policy meeting later in the day, which could give some insight into the future path of monetary tightening.

The yen climbed to a 2-day high of 135.02 against the greenback and a fresh 2-week high of 139.42 against the franc, from its early lows of 135.88 and 140.26, respectively. The next possible resistance for the yen is seen around 122.00 against the greenback and 127.00 against the franc.

The yen touched near 3-week highs of 103.36 against the loonie, 138.27 against the euro and 160.88 against the pound, off its early lows of 104.30, 139.50 and 162.46, respectively. The yen is poised to test resistance around 99.00 against the loonie, 136.00 against the euro and 156.00 against the pound.

After rising to a 5-day high of 91.53 against the aussie and near a 3-week high of 83.01 against the kiwi earlier in the session, the yen eased off to 92.52 and 83.86, respectively. The yen is seen finding support around 94.00 against the aussie and 86.00 against the kiwi.

Looking ahead, Eurozone retail sales for May and U.K. construction PMI for June are set for release in the European session.

U.S. ISM non-manufacturing PMI for June will be out in the New York session.

The Fed minutes from the June 14-15 meeting are due at 2:00 pm ET.