Today’s data showed that Japan’s economy grew faster than was expected, but the Japanese yen hardly paid any attention to the positive report. The currency was down against all of its major counterparts, falling to the lowest level since June versus the US dollar.
Japan’s gross domestic product expanded 0.5% in the third quarter of this year according to the preliminary report, exceeding the analysts’ average forecast of 0.2% growth. Moreover, the reading for the previous reporting period was revised from no growth to a 0.2% increase.
Meanwhile, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda predicted that inflation will not reach the 2% target until 2018, saying:
The momentum toward achieving the 2 percent target is somewhat weaker than the previous outlook, and thus developments in prices warrant careful attention going forward.
USD/JPY rose from 106.84 to 107.80 as of 13:59 GMT today. EUR/JPY ticked up from 115.75 to 116.10.
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