• By
  • Alex Frangos

There’s lots of talk about the yen weakening to 100 per dollar as “symbolic,” but today it was more than symbolism, as the move rippled into other currencies in the Asia region.

The Australian dollar fell sharply against the greenback and is now flirting with a drop below parity for the first time since June 2012. The U.S. dollar strengthened against most Asian currencies, including the Korean won, up 0.9%, the Indonesian rupiah, up 0.5% to its lowest level in a month, and the Malaysian ringgit was also down nearly 0.5%. Even the Chinese yuan, which had been on a tear lately, fell against the dollar about 0.12% to 6.13.

Because the dollar-yen is one of the deepest currency markets in the world, when it moves like it did the past 24 hours, other smaller currencies get taken along for the ride. Whether the dollar dominance continues is up for speculation. But strong jobless claims numbers out Thursday show signs the U.S. economy is improving, and with it, so could the dollar.

That could spread relief for Asian economies that have been fighting against currency strength and strong capital inflows, as The Journal reported Wednesday.  Central banks have been cutting interest rates and implementing other tools to manage the situation.