The Japanese Yen rose against the US Dollar as FX traders sought the safe haven currency after the US President raised the issue of Chinese tariffs yet again. It was reported that Donald Trump told trade officials in the US to consider another $100 billion in tariffs be imposed on Chinese imports. The escalating trade war between the US and China has raised concerns on the possible impact to global growth and trade; that has led to investors being particularly sensitive to any new trade-related developments. Yesterday, Trump said that new retaliatory tariffs were being considered after China’s response to the initial actions against its goods.
As reported at 10:21 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 107.04 Yen, down 0.36%; the pair earlier hit a trough of 106.993 Yen while the peak is a distant 107.437 Yen. The AUD/USD was trading higher at $0.7685, a gain of 0.0077%. The NZD/USD was trading lower at $0.7266, down 0.0010%.
Markets Focus on NFP
Later today, markets will turn their attention to the US and the release of March’s private sector labor data. Analysts and economists are forecasting a significant decline in the Non-Farms Payroll report with new jobs predicted falling to 190,000 from the 313,000 reported in February. On a positive note, analysts polled are predicting that the unemployment rate will fall to 4.0% from 4.1% and that average hourly earnings will increase to 2.7% from 2.6%.