News that Japan could be the next target in Donald Trump's cross-hairs pushed the safe haven Japanese Yen higher relative to its US counterpart. CNBC reported on Thursday that, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the President seemed to allude to the possibility of raising trade concerns with Japan, suggesting the Japanese government is profiting from an inequitable trade relationship with the United States.
As reported at 10:12 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 110.495 Yen, down 0.16% and off the session low of 110.382 Yen. The EUR/USD was trading at $1.16, down 0.02% while the GBP/USD was trading at $1.2923, down 0.03%.
NFP in Focus
Markets will be focusing their attention to the US later today for the release of the US Labor Department's Non-Farms Payroll Report for August. The latest poll shows that economists are predicting 191,000 new jobs will have been recorded, up from July's 179,000 while average earnings could see a fall to 0.2% (month-over-month), against 0.3% in July. Full employment is one of the mandates of the US Federal Reserve Bank, and with the Fed expected to hike rates soon the NFP figures could help investors gauge the timing of the next rate adjustment.