31.10.201400:54:37UTC+00Japanese yen near 6-year trough on report GPIF to bolster foreign assets

The Japanese yen was trading close to six-year low versus the US dollar and declined against all but one of its 16 major counterparts following a Japanese newspaper reported the world’s largest pool of retirement savings would booster its foreign holdings.

Nikkei newspaper said the $1.2 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund would escalate foreign investments to 40% from 23%. The fund would bolster its targets for both local and overseas assets to 25%, and foreign bonds to 15%.

The currency slipped 0.1% to ¥109.34 per US dollar at 1:16 p.m. in Tokyo after falling to ¥110.09 on October 1, the lowest since August 2008. It was slightly changed at ¥137.79 per euro.

“The total allocation to foreign stocks and bonds would be about 40 percent of the total, which is a great deal higher than the market has been expecting.” said Yujiro Goto, London-based Currency Strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc.