Japanese Yen Trades Lower After Retail Sales Beat Expectations

The Japanese yen opened slightly above the Friday’s close today but has declined by now. Japan’s retail sales beat expectations but, as it often happens, the currency had muted reaction to domestic data.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry reported that retail sales climbed 1.8% in June, year-on-year. The rate of increase was slightly higher than 1.7% predicted by economists and three times faster than the 0.6% pace of growth registered in May.
The yen did not pay heed to the report, though, as traders were more interested in the outcome of tomorrow’s policy meeting of the Bank of Japan.
USD/JPY edged up from 110.93 to 111.09 as of 9:35 GMT today after closing at 111.03 on Friday. EUR/JPY climbed from 129.29 to 129.78, while Friday’s close was at 129.37.

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