“The yen strengthened for a third day after the Bank of Japan deferred new monetary stimulus. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed before lawmakers vote on the debt limit, while Portuguese bonds gained as the country prepared to return to the bond market.
Japan’s currency rose 0.5 percent to 88.31 per dollar at 6:35 a.m. in New York, poised for its first three-day increase since November. S&P 500 futures lost 0.1 percent and the StoxxEurope 600 Index swung between gains and losses. Portugal’s 10- year yield fell six basis point to 5.83 percent and credit- default swaps on the country dropped to the lowest in 27 months. Raw sugar slumped to a 29-month low and zinc jumped 1.1 percent.
The yen will weaken against the U.S. currency by the end of the year, as the BOJ’s decision to hold off on fresh stimulus puts pressure on the government to revive growth through fiscal measures, according to a Bloomberg survey of strategists. U.S. House Republicans vote today on lifting the nation’s debt ceiling through mid-May. Portugal is preparing to sell five-year notes in its first bond offering since requesting a bailout in April 2011, following Ireland’s return as borrowing costs fall.
“The yen currently is in an upward correction phase after it weakened rapidly in the past two months,” said Noriaki Murao, managing director of the marketing group at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. “The market was somewhat disappointed in that no deadline has been set for the inflation target and that the open-ended asset purchases don’t start until 2014.”
The yen strengthened against all but one of its 16 major counterparts, gaining 0.3 percent per euro. Europe’s shared currency added 0.1 percent to $1.3337….”
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