In Asian trade, the Japanese Yen reversed direction after earlier gaining ground against the US Dollar. FX traders are increasingly concerned that the trade-related rift between China and the United States could worsen. With the two day meetings set to conclude in Washington later today, analysts say there seems to be nothing definitive yet that could give FX traders hope for a resolution. If the US government insists on implementing more tariffs on Chinese imports, they say that the ripple effect is likely to derail economies around the globe, and most especially China and the nations which rely heavily upon it for trade, such as Australia and New Zealand.
As reported at 10:28 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 109.8720 Yen, up 0.1166% and moving off the earlier trough of 109.693 Yen. The AUD/USD is trading at $0.6994, up 0.06993% while the NZD/USD is trading at $0.6594, a gain of 0.03%.
Traders Eye UK and USA Data
Besides resumption of the trade talks, markets will watch the UK's Office of National Statistics' release of preliminary GDP figures for the first quarter (on a quarter-over-quarter basis). Analysts and economists polled expect to see a rise in the data to 0.5% from the previous reading of 0.2%. The ONS will also be releasing information on industrial and manufacturing production in the UK for the month of March. On a month-over-month basis, analysts are calling for a drop in the data to 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively, from the previous 0.6% and 0.9%. Then, later in the US, personal inflation data for April will be released by the US Department of Labor Statistics; analysts are forecasting a rise in core inflation.