Japanese Yen Gains During Monday’s Quiet Trading

The Japanese yen gained, rising against all other most-traded currencies, during Monday’s quiet trading. Today’s calendar is light in terms of macroeconomic releases, and trading is expected to be quieter than usual due to holidays in the United States and Canada. As for today’s economic reports in Japan itself, they were mixed.
The Bank of Japan reported that the Producer Price Index fell by 0.8% in September, year-on-year, after declining by 0.6% in August. The drop was bigger than analysts had predicted — 0.5%. Month-on-month, the index fell by 0.2% after rising by 0.1% in the preceding month.
A report from Japan’s Cabinet Office showed that core machinery tools orders rose by 0.2% in August. While it was a significantly slower rate of growth than in July (6.3%), that was a far better reading than a decrease by 1.0% forecast by experts.
According to data from the BoJ, bank lending rose by 6.4% in September on an annual basis after increasing by 6.7% in July.
There are no events specific for Japan expected this week, therefore the yen will likely be driven mostly by outside factors. While there will be several notable economic reports in the United States and other countries over the week, politics will likely overshadow them. Most important will be debates in preparation for the US presidential election and the Brexit negotiations.
USD/JPY fell from 105.77 to 105.48 as of 10:31 GMT today. EUR/JPY declined from 124.96 to 124.51. GBP/JPY edged down from 137.74 to 137.35.
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