2014.08.0804:29:53UTC+00Japanese yen, Swiss franc climb on Obama's orders

The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc ascended following US President Barack Obama authorized air strikes to the militants in Iraq, which added to the appeal of haven assets despite geopolitical conflicts in Ukraine and throughout the Middle East.

The yen climbed to its firmest since November versus the euro before the Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will deliver its monetary policy statement today and after Ukraine said pro-Russian rebels shot down a fighter jet.

The currency increased 0.3% to ¥101.74 per dollar as of 7:03 a.m. in London and reached ¥101.60, the firmest since July 24. The yen rose 0.4% to ¥135.96 per euro. The franc grew 0.1% to 90.80 centimes per greenback.

“We’re seeing Treasuries rally and a bit of risk aversion through markets at the moment. Euro-yen and dollar-yen are both coming under some additional pressure,” said Greg Gibbs, Head of Asia-Pacific Markets Strategy at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

Japan’s central bank retained its vow to escalate the monetary base at an annual pace to ¥70 trillion.