Unexpectedly poor economic data from the United States helped to send the greenback broadly lower during Tuesday’s Asian trading session, while simultaneously giving the Yen a solid boost. Though trading remains somewhat lackluster as investors attempt to regain their momentum in the new year, adjustments to existing positions are tending to dominate trade as traders appear hesitant to take aggressive positions until the conclusion of several upcoming major risk events.
As reported at 12:46 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY pair traded at 104.18 Japanese Yen, slipping from a session low of 103.91 and moving farther from last week’s 5-year high set at 105.45 Yen. The EUR/JPY was trading at 142.05 Yen edging off a 3-week trough at 141.50 Yen, the common currency, too, slipping farther from a recently struck 5-year high. The EUR/USD traded higher at $1.3633, rising from a 1-month trough of $1.3572.
Key Events in Focus
Markets will be focusing on the monetary policy meetings for the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, as well as the private sector labor report from the U.S. which will be released on Friday. Yesterday, two key pieces of data showed that growth in the services sector in the U.S. unexpectedly slowed last month, which was sufficiently poor to give investors a reason for profit taking but analysts say is not likely to dampen enthusiasm for the Fed’s tapering program.