(New throughout)
By Kate Duguid
NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Japanese yen rose versus
the U.S. dollar on Monday in a risk-off move spurred by the rise
in coronavirus cases.
The safe-haven yen JPY= was last up 0.73% at 110.74 per
dollar, having strengthened to 110.34 earlier in the day.
The dollar index =USD , which weighs the greenback against
a basket of six peers, can also function as a safe-haven trade.
But it was in negative territory for the day, likely because of
a significant move lower in U.S. equities. It was last down
0.095% at 99.33 per dollar.
With coronavirus cases rising in Italy and several Middle
Eastern countries dealing with their first infections, fears of
a global pandemic sent markets into a tailspin, even as China
eased curbs with no new cases reported in Beijing and other
cities. U.S. stocks fell sharply, with the Dow Jones Industrial
Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all off by nearly 3%. Wall
Street's fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index .VIX , jumped to
a six-month high. .N European equities markets suffered their
biggest slump since mid-2016, gold soared to a seven-year high
and oil tumbled nearly 5%. "Ultimately this is all a risk-off trade," said Marvin Loh,
senior global markets strategist at State Street Global Markets.
"When you look at the yen, when you look at the Swissie,
when you look at rates, it is risk-off. It's probably
reflective, to a certain degree, of the market being a little
too sanguine up until now ... so there's an adjustment process
around it."
Still, the yen traded well within last week's range, and
currency market moves were muted compared with those in U.S.
stocks and Treasuries. Some analysts said investors might be
discounting the yen's traditional safe-haven value because of
Japan's virus exposure. "In the scheme of things however, given risk-off conditions,
and heightened coronavirus concerns, USD-JPY has held up
relatively well," wrote analysts at Action Economics. "There was
talk last week of early portfolio flows into the dollar ahead of
Japan's fiscal year end on March 31, with pension funds rumored
to have been big buyers. These flows may continue, and despite
the current risk-averse conditions, may limit USD-JPY downside
for now."
U.S. economic data last week came in below expectations.
Money markets are now pricing in a Federal Reserve interest rate
cut of 25 basis points in June.