The year has started with the risk aversion theme that should have been helping the currencies that are traditionally considered to be safe, like the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc. And while the franc is struggling, the yen did indeed was rising.
The major piece of news today was the continuing deterioration of the Chinese manufacturing sector. The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI fell from 48.6 in November to 48.2 in December, indicating the tenth month of a decline of the sector. Meanwhile, the Nikkei Japan Manufacturing PMI stood basically flat at 52.6 last month, signaling that conditions for Japan’s manufacturing continued to improve.
USD/JPY dropped 1 percent from 120.19 to 119.02 as of 12:58 GMT today. EUR/JPY declined from 130.65 to 129.86.
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