With global growth worries still putting a damper on market sentiment, the Japanese Yen has only just retreated after earlier moving higher against the US Dollar. In general, analysts say that the latest data from the US will likely weigh on the greenback, with US factory activity reported as weaker than analysts had predicted. All of that has led investors to conclude that the US Federal Reserve is unlikely to push ahead with a 2019 rate increase and may, in fact, consider lowering them perhaps as soon as 2020. With concerns of an economic slowdown in both China and the US weighing on FX markets, the safe haven Yen has become the beneficiary of market jitters.
As reported at 10:50 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 108.0790 Yen, up 0.3892% and moving off the session trough of 107.517 Yen. The EUR/JPY was trading at 123.2070 Yen, a gain of 0.44%, while the GBP/JPY was at 136.6070 Yen, up 0.43%.
China Caixin Helps Aussie & Kiwi
In Asian, the AUD/USD was higher at $0.7021, up 0.27%, pushed higher after the latest economic news out of China. It was reported that the Caixin Services PMI reading for December was upbeat at 53.9, well above the 52.9 expected which would have been a fall from November's reading of 53.8. The NZD/USD was higher at $0.6699, up 0.0871%. The Aussie and Kiwi dollars generally move higher when news out of China is positive, given their strong reliance on China's economy as a major trading partner.