The US Dollar moved lower versus the Japanese Yen during Asian trade on Friday after some disappointing data cemented beliefs that the US central bank will hold interest rates unchanged for the remainder of the year. On Thursday, the US Census Bureau reported that retail sales (excluding auto sales) fell in December to -1.8%, far below the predicted 0.1% rise (from 0.0%). Historical data shows that that was the largest fall in nearly a decade, suggesting that the all-important consumer sector is softening to an extent not anticipated. US consumers drive the US economy, accounting for nearly 66% of GDP.
As reported at 10:43 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 110.3510 Yen, down 0.1403%; the pair earlier hit a session trough of 110.307 Yen before recovering slightly. The AUD/USD was trading at $0.7085, down 0.28%, while the NZD/USD was $0.6815, down 0.24%.
Asian Data Disappoints
Late on Thursday, the Business PMI for New Zealand was released for the month of January and it showed a decline in the reading to 53.1, down from 55.1 in the previous month. The Visitor Arrival count for New Zealand was also down from the previous reading, at 3.1% from 7.1%. Earlier today, China's Statistics Bureau reported that consumer inflation fell unexpectedly to 1.7%, down from the 1.9% that had been predicted. Producer price inflation was similarly lower at 0.1%, from 0.9% in the previous month.