Yen Falls for Eighth Day After Exports Slump; Euro Gains

The yen fell for an eighth day against the dollar, the longest streak in seven years, as a report showing Japan’s exports fell the most since the 2011 earthquake fueled bets the central bank will add more stimulus.

The Japanese currency dropped versus all of its 16 most- traded counterparts after Economy Minister Seiji Maehara pressed the Bank of Japan yesterday for more action to boost the economy. The euro rose after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy extended an electoral majority in his home region of Galicia, vindicating the government’s austerity program. South Africa’s rand appreciated against all of its major peers.

“People are pricing in the possibility that the BOJ is going to ease,” Andrew Busch, a global currency strategist at Bank of Montreal in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “We know that Japan is hurting economically, and today we got the first glimpse of how bad it is with this export data.”

The yen fell 0.7 percent to 79.84 per dollar at 9:16 a.m. New York time after dropping to 79.88, the weakest level since July 12. Japan’s currency declined 0.9 percent to 104.17 per euro. The euro strengthened 0.2 percent to $1.3048 after dropping 0.7 percent over the previous two trading days.

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