Bernanke’s talk in Michigan had a negligible effect on currencies, and the day was setting up as being a quiet one, not even as active as the holiday in Japan yesterday.

All that changed with some comments from the Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari (see bullets above). USD/JPY had been sitting just below yesterday’s highs around 89.60 and quickly fell to 89.20 and then pushed down to a low of 88.62. Japanese importer interest rushed in to buy USD/JPY, providing lift for the bounce back above 89.00 before it settled 88.90/89.06 into early Europe.

EUR/USD sold off too with cross selling, as did the AUD and NZD. The EUR/USD had had a quiet session, as had the AUD, but NZD was quite well bid in the earlier part of the day.