Following the release of PMI data from China which was unexpectedly improved the Japanese Yen edged lower while the Australian Dollar moved higher. According to the preliminary HSBC PMI, factory sector growth surged to a level not seen in 2-years last month, providing some encouragement to investors that the global economic outlook may finally be improving. As reported at 11:35 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY pair was trading at 89.21 Yen a gain of 0.7% and moving farther from Wednesday’s 1-week trough of 88.06 Yen while edging closer to the multi-year peak of 90.25 Yen struck on Monday. The AUD/JPY pair, meanwhile, gained 0.3% to trade at 93.80 Yen while the AUD/USD pair slumped 0.3% to $1.0524, not far from the session’s low price of $1.0513.
The safe haven Japanese Yen had seen several reversals this week, ahead of and following the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting decision. Analysts say that markets were disappointed by the central bank’s decision not to immediately increase their asset purchase program. However, in the long term, they see no real reason for the trend to change and that the USD/JPY pair will likely continue to gain upward momentum.