Asian Markets Turns Positive after Earthquake

At the time of this report, 09:20 am GMT time, shares in Japan turned slightly higher as the damage of an early morning earthquake appeared to be moderate. Other markets in Asia and the Pacific Rim rallied as the US Dollar lost steam and moved lower.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 was up nearly 0.31 percent and the broader Topix, in Tokyo, was up 0.23 percent this morning. The USD/JPY Forex market is trading at 110.69 at 09:20 am GMT time. The yen had hit a high of 110.23 after the news of the quake broke.

In the early morning hours, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima. A 90 cm tsunami was seen soon after the quake and waves of over 3 meters were also noted. This area was devastated once before by an earthquake and the resulting tsunami devastated the regional nuclear plant. Analysts said they are not expecting a lot of lasting damage from this quake and it would not have lasting effect on the regional financial markets.

This morning, investors are also concerned over President-elect Donald Trump’s latest statement that he will withdraw the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in his first hundred days. Japan’s Prime Minister Mr. Shinzo Abe, who is now in Buenos Aires, Argentina, said that the trade deal would be meaningless without US.

Turning our attention to the currency markets, as of 09:20 am GMT time, the US Dollar index was trading at 100.88. This is well below its multi-year high of 101.50 hit earlier in the week. The Australian Dollar was trading at 0.7405, up from 0.7320 in the previous trading session. The euro is trading at 1.0644 which is up from 1.06 on Monday and the British Pound has also moved higher against the US Dollar. The Pound is trading at 1.2491 which is up from near $1.23 on Monday.