By Alun John

HONG KONG (Reuters – On Wednesday the Australian dollar rose while the Japanese yen lost ground. Markets turned positive about riskier assets as well as high commodity prices, which drove further developments.

With a gain of 8% in March, the Australian dollar reached its highest point since December 2015 against the Japanese yen.

With respect to the dollar, Australia’s dollar reached a high of $0.7477 early trade. It had gained 0.95% overnight. The yen, however, fell as low as 121.4 after the Japanese currency rose 1.1% overnight.

According to ANZ analysts, gains in commodities and equities led to the breaking of resistance at $0.745. They also stated that global risk sentiment continued to drive the AUD’s outlook.

On Wednesday, the U.S. and European equity markets rose as investors brushed aside concerns about the economic and market impact of the conflict in Ukraine. [MKTS/GLOB]

The yen is not good news because of high commodity prices. However, Japan imports the majority of its energy and this has increased the country’s trade deficit.

Analysts at TD Securities stated that the USD-JPY “has nowhere to go except up” and pointed out the difference between U.S. rates and Japanese rates, as well as the vulnerability of the yen to ongoing commodity shocks.

Early Asian hour yields on U.S. benchmark 10 years yields rose to 2.5026% on Wednesday. The rise was still supported by Jerome Powell (U.S. Federal Reserve chair)’s Monday speech, which suggested that interest rates could be raised by 25 basis points or more at future policy meetings to counter inflation.

Analysts at ING said that “a number of Fed speakers are jumping onto Chair Powell’s aggressive hike bandwagon.” Powell is scheduled to give a second speech later today as part of busy week of public remarks from Fed policymakers.

However, investors claim that rising U.S. yields are not having an effect on the dollar.

The was at 98.456, which is the same as six of its major counterparts, while the euro barely changed at $1.1022.

The Sterling reached $1.3279, its highest level against the US dollar in almost three weeks. Now, attention turns to UK inflation data, and Rishi Sunak, British finance minister,’s Spring Statement scheduled for Wednesday. [GBP/]

The price of bitcoin in crypto markets was $42,400. It held on to overnight gains and was under $3,000.