The Japanese yen rallied today but struggled to keep gains, losing them against some rivals outright. The possible reason for the rally was a massive sell-off of global stocks. As for macroeconomic indicators released in Japan over the course of the trading session, they were mixed.
Stocks all over the world were in retreat today, like the Dow Jones Industrial Average that has lost more than 300 points during the Tuesday’s session. The likely reason for the sell-off was the concern that prospects for rising interest rates in developed nations mean no more cheap money for investors. That spurred demand for safer assets like the yen and gold.
As for economic data, the Bank of Japan core Consumer Price Index rose 0.7% in December from a year ago compared to the average forecast of a 0.5% increase. Retail sales jumped 3.6%, exceeding the analysts’ estimate of 2.1%. On a negative side, the unemployment rate unexpectedly increased from 2.7% to 2.8% last month. Household spending slipped 0.1% in December from the same month of the previous year, whereas experts had promised an increase by 1.6%.
USD/JPY traded at 108.85 as of 17:11 GMT today after opening at 108.94 and falling to the daily low of 108.42. EUR/JPY was almost flat at 134.95 following the drop to 134.14. GBP/JPY opened at 153.30, slid to 152.03 intraday, but rebounded to 153.61 later.
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