Japanese economic data came in better than expected, and that is providing a boost for the yen against its major counterparts. Yen is heading higher on the better than expected reports coming out of Japan.
Japanese yen got a boost today after the numbers reporting Japanese Capital Spending were released. There was a year over year gain of 4.2 per cent, handily beating the forecasted 1.9 per cent. There are now expectations for the first quarter GDP to be revised upward when it’s reported next week.
On top of that, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced that the government will delay a planned sales tax hike until later in 2019. Originally, the sales tax hike was expected in 2017, but Japanese policymakers aren’t happy with the economic progress so far, and they are worried that a premature tax hike could cause a recession.
For now, though, the good economic news and the delay for the sales tax hike are the main drivers sending the Japanese yen higher against its counterparts in Forex trading.
At 13:09 GMT USD/JPY is down to 109.19 from the open at 110.72. EUR/JPY is also lower, dropping to 122.89 from the open at 123.27. GBP/JPY is down as well, falling to 157.08 from the open at 160.37.
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