Yen May Retest Record High on Quake Risk Aversion, JPMorgan Says

The yen may revisit this year’s record high against the dollar as Japanese investors refrain from investing in overseas assets to reduce risk following the nation’s biggest earthquake, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

“Risk-averse” investors and companies may bring home as much as 10 trillion yen ($123.5 billion) as the country struggles to rebuild from a magnitude-9 quake and tsunami on March 11, said Junya Tanase, chief currency strategist at JPMorgan in Tokyo. The repatriation will contrast with growing demand elsewhere in the world for higher-yielding assets, Tanase said. Japan, the world’s largest net creditor nation, also runs one of the biggest current-account surpluses, he said.