News

Japanese Yen Little Changed
The Japanese Yen traded flat at 107.509 against the US Dollar on Friday. Sentiment in the safe haven Yen was muted in early Asian trade after the United States nonfarm payrolls jumped by a record 4.8 million in June. Meantime, Japan’s capital city of Tokyo confirmed its highest daily tally of fresh COVID-19 cases in two months, adding 107 infections while the United States added a record 52300. On the data front, the au Jibun Bank Japan Composite PMI was at 40.8 in June 2020, slightly higher than the preliminary figure of 37.9 and posting the highest reading since February.
Published on 2020-07-03

Japanese Yen Weakens Slightly
The Japanese Yen lost 0.65 points or 0.06% to 107.532 against the US Dollar on Thursday. Risk appetite increased slightly throughout Asian trade, seeing the safe haven Yen fall. Investors now turn their focus toward United States jobless data, with non-farm payrolls expected to hit a record high of 3 million. In other news, concerning data from Johns Hopkins University revealed that Japan added 223 cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, posting the highest daily infection rate in nearly 2 months, while a record 218000 cases were recorded worldwide.
Published on 2020-07-02

Japanese Yen Strengthens
The Japanese Yen moved 0.284 points or 0.26% higher to 107.638 against the US Dollar on Wednesday. Investors moved away from the US Dollar as further acceleration of coronavirus infections across the world led investors toward the safe haven Yen. Meantime, Pharmaceutical Company AnGes has designed a coronavirus vaccine to help create antibodies that prevent the virus from binding to human cells. Trials are now being conducted on 30 healthy people at a university hospital in Osaka. On the data front, Japan’s Consumer Confidence Index posted the highest reading since March, while the au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing PMI was seen to decline at a softer rate, as sentiment turned positive for the first time since February.
Published on 2020-07-01

Japanese Yen Weakens Slightly
The Japanese Yen lost 0.14 points or 0.13% to 107.711 against the US Dollar on Tuesday. Investors remained cautious as coronavirus infections continue to accelerate. Japan added 110 cases on Monday, while the United States reported near-record 41600. On the local data front, in May the unemployment rate jumped to 2.9 percent, the highest since May of 2017; housing starts tumbled 12.3 percent year-on-year, the eleventh straight month of declines. Finally, preliminary data showed that industrial production declined 8.4 percent month-over-month, more than a market consensus of a 5.6 percent drop.
Published on 2020-06-30

Japanese Yen Little Changed
The Japanese Yen was little changed at 107.161 against the US Dollar on Monday. Investor sentiment was mixed throughout Asian trade, following a further acceleration of coronavirus infections over the weekend. Globally, 163172 new cases were reported on Sunday, with Japan adding 93 cases of the novel coronavirus, while the United States added a near record 40540. On the data front, Japan's retail trade declined by 12.3 percent year-on-year in May 2020, compared with market consensus of an 11.6 percent fall and posting the third straight month of decline.
Published on 2020-06-29

Japanese Yen Gains Slightly
The Japanese Yen added 0.89 points or 0.08% to 107.102 against the US Dollar on Friday. Investor sentiment moved away from risker assets and into the safe haven Yen after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda signaled his readiness to ramp up stimulus measures again, noting that second-round effects of the coronavirus pandemic could hurt the Japanese economy “considerably.” Daily coronavirus infections accelerated across the world on Thursday, with Japan adding 86 new cases while the United States also added a record 37077, bringing the global total to a near record 179718.
Published on 2020-06-26

Japanese Yen Little Changed
The Japanese Yen was little changed at 107.079 against the US Dollar on Thursday. Investor sentiment in the Yen was subdued following acceleration in daily coronavirus infections across the world. Japan reported 56 new cases on Wednesday, while the United States added a near record 38386. On the data front, Japan's all industry activity index tumbled by 6.4 percent month-over-month in April 2020, following a downwardly revised 3.4 percent fall in March and posting the third month of decline for the index.
Published on 2020-06-25

Japanese Yen Falls Slightly
The Japanese Yen moved 0.105 points lower or 0.1% to 106.618 against the US Dollar on Wednesday. Investor sentiment was mixed as the Bank of Japan kept its key short-term interest rate at -0.1 percent and maintained long-term borrowing costs around zero during its June meeting, but increased the size of its lending packages for cash-strapped firms. Further data revealed that the index for leading economic indicators in Japan was at 77.7 in April 2020, posting the weakest reading since March 2009, while the assessment of the coincident index in Japan also posted the weakest reading since October 2009.
Published on 2020-06-24

Japanese Yen Weakens
The Japanese Yen lost 0.295 points or 0.27% to 107.189 against the US Dollar on Tuesday. While the safe haven Yen gained in early trade after United States trade adviser Peter Navarro remarked that the U.S-China trade deal was over, sentiment reversed shortly after as President Donald Trump tweeted that the phase-one trade deal was still intact. Furthermore, preliminary data revealed that the au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing PMI fell to 37.8 in June 2020 from a final 38.4 in May, posting its lowest reading since March 2009 for a second straight month, while the Services PMI jumped to a four-month high of 42.3 as Japan’s state of emergency lifted, allowing business activities to resume.
Published on 2020-06-23

Japanese Yen Little Changed
The Japanese Yen lost 0.086 points or 0.08% to 106.927 against the US Dollar on Monday. Investor sentiment was mixed throughout Asian trade following a recent uptick in global coronavirus cases. The World Health Organization recorded the largest single-day increase in infections since the start of the pandemic, adding 183020 new cases across the globe in the 24-hour period to Sunday, With Japan contributing 65 cases, while the United States added 26079.
Published on 2020-06-22

Japanese Yen Strengthens Slightly
The Japanese Yen added 0.69 points or 0.6% to 106.902 against the US Dollar on Friday, adding 0.13% for the week. Investors moved toward the safe haven Yen as coronavirus infections continue to accelerate across the globe. Meantime, the Japanese Cabinet Office raised its economic assessment in June for the first time since 2018, as the economy is seen bottoming from the coronavirus impact. Deflationary pressures were also evident as data revealed that Japan's consumer price inflation remained unchanged at 0.1 percent yoy in May 2020, staying at the lowest level since November of 2016. .
Published on 2020-06-19

Japanese Yen Appreciates
The Japanese Yen traded at 106.84 against the greenback on Friday at around 04:30 AM GMT following an earlier 107.05, after Reuters reported that Japan's government raised its economic assessment in June for the first time since 2018 as a sharp deterioration caused by the COVID-19 outbreak had nearly come to an end. "The economy is still on a slightly downward trend but the sharp deterioration has ended," said an official at the Cabinet Office, adding that any pick-up in the economy would depend on how jobs and wages develop.
Published on 2020-06-19

Japanese Yen Gains Slightly
The Japanese Yen added 0.089 points or 0.08% to 106.914 against the US Dollar on Thursday. Investors moved away from risk leaning assets and into the safe haven yen following a recent acceleration in daily coronavirus cases, with Japan adding 41 new cases on Wednesday, while United States added 26071, China tallied 44 and Brazil added a near record 31457. The data comes after the Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said in a news conference that "We are prepared for an extended campaign to help prevent businesses from running out of cash and to keep the financial markets stable. Issuance of corporate bonds and commercial paper remains at an elevated level. It is important to keep the borrowing costs low.”
Published on 2020-06-18

Japanese Yen Little Changed
The Japanese Yen traded flat at 107.3 against the US Dollar on Wednesday as investors remained cautious as a recent uptick in coronavirus cases the globe threaten to hamper a swift economic recovery. Japan added 85 new cases on Wednesday, while the United States reported 25450 and Brazil posted a record breaking 37278. On the data front, Imports to Japan slumped 26.2 percent year-on-year to JPY 5.02 trillion in May 2020, while exports slumped 28.3 percent to JPY 4.18 trillion. In addition, sales fell for the 18th straight month and at the sharpest pace in more than 10 years, reflecting current global demand.
Published on 2020-06-17

Japanese Yen Weakens Slightly
The Japanese Yen lost 0.04 points or 0.04% to 107.373 against the US Dollar on Tuesday. Sentiment moved away from the safe haven Yen and global risk appetite was seen to increase after the United States Federal Reserve moved to expand its purchases of corporate bonds, updating its Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility to “create a corporate bond portfolio that is based on a broad, diversified market index of US corporate bonds.” Meantime, the Bank of Japan kept its held short-term interest rate steady at -0.1 percent during its June meeting and kept the 10-year government bond yield around 0 percent by an 8-1 vote. The central bank also said it expects to inject around JPY 110 trillion to the economy via its market operations and lending facilities in an effort to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Published on 2020-06-16

Japanese Yen Appreciates
The Japanese yen traded at 107.53 a dollar on Tuesday at around 03:15 AM GMT following an earlier 107.63, after the Bank of Japan kept its held short-term interest rate steady at -0.1 percent during its June meeting and kept the 10-year government bond yield around 0 percent by an 8-1 vote. The central bank also said it expects to inject around JPY 110 trillion to the economy via its market operations and lending facilities aimed at mitigating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Published on 2020-06-16

Japanese Yen Appreciates
The Japanese Yen added 0.208 points or 0.2% to 107.145 against the US Dollar on Monday. Investors remained risk averse throughout Monday’s Asian session, seeing the safe-haven yen appreciate as fears of a global resurgence in new coronavirus cases dashed hopes of a swift economic recovery.
Published on 2020-06-15

Japanese Yen Weakens
The Japanese Yen lost 0.275 points or 0.26% to 107.139 against the US Dollar on Friday, while adding 2.21% for the week. The US Dollar lifted after the Federal Reserve held rates near zero, while policymakers expect historically low rates to continue until 2022. On the data front, industrial production in Japan tumbled 9.8 percent month-on-month in April 2020, compared to the preliminary reading of 9.1 percent fall and after a 3.7 percent drop a month earlier, posting the steepest decline in industrial output since March 2011.
Published on 2020-06-12

Japanese Yen Gains
The Japanese Yen gained 0.256 points or 0.24% to 106.606 in early Friday trade. Investors looked to the safe-haven yen after the Federal Reserve projected a long path to economic recovery for America on Thursday, predicting a 6.5% contraction in the economy this year with unemployment predicted to reach 9.3%. Weighing further on sentiment, US health authorities are concerned about a second wave of coronavirus infections after Texas reported three consecutive days of record-breaking COVID-19 hospitalizations, while California and Florida both reported a rise in the number of new infections.
Published on 2020-06-12

Japanese Yen Hits 4-week High
USDJPY decreased to a 4-week low of 106.8 on Thursday as interest in safe heaven assets got a boost after The Federal Reserve’s projections revealed that the American economy is expected to shrink 6.5% this year, with unemployment reaching 9.3% and interest rates remaining near zero until at least 2022. Meantime, the Japanese Lower House of Parliament approved an emergency budget worth nearly US$300 billion, bringing total stimulus measures to over 40% of GDP.
Published on 2020-06-11