Yen Reaches Eight-Week High Versus Dollar as Obama Refuses Talks

Bloomberg (8/10) -- The yen reached an eight-week high against the dollar as President Barack Obama reiterated he won’t negotiate with Republicans over the debt limit, driving demand for Japan’s currency as a haven. The yen strengthened by the most since Sept. 18 yesterday as the U.S. government’s partial shutdown continued for a seventh day. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew has warned the U.S. may be unable to pay its bills after Oct. 17. Demand for the euro was supported before a report today forecast to show a rebound in German factory orders. The yen was little changed at 96.75 per dollar as of 8:03 a.m. in Tokyo from yesterday, after earlier touching 96.57, the strongest since Aug. 12. Japan’s currency traded at 131.35 per euro from 131.32 in New York, after reaching 131.15, the most since Sept. 9. The single currency fetched $1.3577 after gaining 0.2 percent to $1.3581 in the previous session. The yen tends to strengthen during periods of financial and economic turmoil because Japan isn’t reliant on foreign capital to fund its deficits. “We’re not going to negotiate under the threat of economic catastrophe,” Obama said yesterday during a visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington. Republicans are insisting on changing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, while Obama refuses to engage in discussions about policy conditions tied to opening the government or raising the debt ceiling. In Germany, factory orders probably rose 1.1 percent in August, after a 2.7 percent decline the previous month, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Bloomberg News.