- Markets remain focused on the Japanese Yen, as the Japanese Finance Minister makes non-committal comments following the Governor of the Bank of Japan’s remarks about a potential rate hike if the inflation target is met by the end of 2023, which drove up the value of the Japanese Yen quite strongly. There could be more volatility in the Yen as the danger of further intervention by the BoJ has not passed – additionally, there will be a release of US CPI (inflation) data tomorrow which might trigger volatility in markets.
- In the Forex market, the USD/JPY currency pair remains in focus, with its long-term bullish trend remaining intact as the price starts to gain again. Since the Tokyo open, the strongest major currency has been the Australian Dollar, while the Japanese Yen has been the weakest.
- Crude Oil remains strong, with the price continuing to edge up, very close to a bullish breakout into new long-term highs. OPEC and the US Energy Information Administration will both publish monthly market reports later today.
- Bitcoin is threatening to break down to new 2-month lows as the crypto sector remains weak, but it has bounced back so far in trading today.
- There will be a release today of UK claimant count change data (unemployment claims), which is expected to show a net increase of 90k new claims over the past month.
- It is likely to be a relatively quiet day in the market, as crucial US inflation data is awaited tomorrow.