Yen Drops Versus Peers as Obama to Nominate Yellen for Fed Chief

The yen declined against all its 16 major peers after a White House official said President Barack Obama will nominate Janet Yellen today to head the Federal Reserve, boosting demand for higher-yielding assets.

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index was near its lowest closing level in seven months before the Fed releases minutes of last month’s meeting when it unexpectedly refrained from trimming bond purchases. The congressional standoff that’s halted the release of key economic data and risks a breach of the U.S. debt limit continues. The euro rose before a report forecast to show German industrial production rebounded in August.

The yen declined 0.3 percent to 131.90 per euro as of 10:32 a.m. in Tokyo, weakening for a second day. It fell 0.3 percent to 97.17 per dollar. The U.S. currency was little changed at $1.3575 per euro after falling by as much as 0.2 percent.

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index was little changed at 1,010.28. It fell to 1007.87 on Oct. 3, the lowest closing level since Feb. 20.

Fed Vice Chairman Yellen, 67, would succeed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, whose term ends Jan. 31. She was the favorite in surveys of economists and had the backing of 20 members of the Senate Democratic caucus who signed a July 26 letter to Obama.

(Source: Bloomberg)