Yen hits 15-year high against dollar

TEXT OF INTERVIEW

BOB MOON: The Japanese yen just hit a 15-year high against the dollar. Tokyo’s Nikkei hit its lowest point in 15 months. Let’s explore why investors in Japan are so skittish, at the same time the yen has hit that 15-year peak. Bill Stone joins us live from PNC Wealth Management. Good morning — so what’s going on with the yen?

BILL STONE: You know, it’s really truly a symptom of this global flight to safety. It’s helped some what I’ll call safe havens like the Japanese yen and like U.S. treasuries and certainly hurt others like global stocks in general and the Japanese stock market in particular.

MOON: And the broader economic implications of that might be?

STONE: The broader economic implications, particularly for Japan, is just broader headwinds for Japanese exports. And certainly some more headwinds for their economy because even when you talk about the fact that the yen has gotten versus the dollar, the dollar’s actually been a relatively strong currency. So relative to almost all the other major currencies, the yen is even stronger than that if that makes any sense.

MOON: OK, back to those latest earnings numbers. Does this just all the pressure on Wall Street?

STONE: Yes. Second-quarter earnings so far, on the whole, have been very good. They’re kind of a lot in Wall Street’s rear-view mirror. But the fact is the short-term economic data we’ve been getting has not been helpful, in fact I’d call it pretty poor, so these certainly — the recent earnings disappointments — certainly won’t help us today.

MOON: Bill Stone at PNC Wealth Management, thanks for your insight.

STONE: Thank you.