The Japanese Yen struck a 2-week peak versus its main rival, the U.S Dollar, as appetite for risk skidded following the release of Chinese economic data which once again showed that manufacturing activity fell for the fourth consecutive month in China, the second largest economy on the globe. The HSBC Manufacturing PMI report showed a reading that edged slightly higher to 48.1 however analysts’ expectations were of a rise to 48.4. The U.S. Dollar was unable to maintain the upward momentum it achieved in the wake of unexpectedly strong private sector jobs data which helped to alleviate some wariness of the likely future intent of the Federal Reserve.
As reported at 1:07 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY had dipped to 101.86 Yen, a low last seen on April 17th, and falling more than 100 pips from Friday’s peak of 103.025 Yen on the EBS trading platform. The pair was recently trading at 101.90 Yen, a drop of 0.3% in light trading as a result of holidays in Japan. The EUR/JPY was also lower by 0.3% to 141.36 Yen; meanwhile the AUD/JPY dropped 0.4% to trade at 94.36 Yen.
Australian Dollar Feels Pinch of China Data
Given the ultra strong export relationship that the Australia has with the Chinese economy, the pressure mounted on the Aussie Dollar as well. The AUD/USD pair dipped to $0.9262, a decline of 0.2% but holding above the low hit last Friday at $0.9203.