The Japanese Yen has reversed track after a wild ride which had earlier sent it broadly higher during London trade on Thursday. Currency strategists say that the Yen is poised to record its largest single day gain in more than 20 months. The safe haven gained strong appeal after Apple corporation issued a warning, saying that the trade war between the US and China has impacted sales of Apple products. Yesterday's release of the Caixin Manufacturing PMI report for December did little to dispell concerns with the numbers falling below the 50.0 threshold which separates an expanding sector from a contracting one. The Caixin report came in with a reading of 49.7, which was below the 50.1 expected, that in itself a drop from the 50.2 reported in November.
As reported at 11:06 am (GMT) in London, the USD/JPY was trading at higher at 107.6350 Yen, up 0.8649%; the pair is moving well off the session low of 104.783 Yen. The EUR/JPY is trading at 122.2590 Yen, up 1.109%; the pair has ranged from a low of 118.6640 Yen to a peak of 123.5760 Yen. The GBP/JPY is trading at 135.166 Yen, up 1.52%, and off the session trough of 131.752 Yen.
Aussie and Kiwi Dollars Recoup Losses
In general, markets have seen a sentiment shift against high yielding currencies which are typically tied to the fate of the Chinese economy. That includes the Australian and New Zealand Dollars which had earlier been under some pressure. The AUD/USD is currently trading at $0.6966, up 1.18% while the NZD/USD is trading at $0.6639, up 0.17%. Earlier, the AUD/USD had fallen to $0.6715 before recovering while the NZD/USD had hit a low of $0.65912.