The Japanese yen gained on the very soft US dollar today thanks to better-than-expected macroeconomic data released in Japan over the trading session and signs that some policy makers want to end the era of ultra-loose monetary policy. The currency showed mixed performance versus other most-traded peers.
The Bank of Japan released the Summary of Opinions at the monetary policy meeting that happened last week. It showed that some of the central bank’s members want to reduce excessive stimulus:
Some actively argue that an exit from quantitative and qualitative monetary easing (QQE) needs to be considered in light of the situations abroad.
Yet after comparing Japan’s economic state to that of South Korea, the country that raised interest rates recently, the BoJ concluded:
In comparison with the situation in South Korea, it is too early for the Bank of Japan to change its monetary policy.
As for Japan’s macroeconomic reports, industrial production and the BoJ core Consumer Price Index demonstrated weirdly similar results. Both rose 0.6% in November, while analysts expected the same 0.5% rate of growth that was registered in October for both indicators. Retail sales climbed 2.2% in November from a year ago, two times the forecast increase by 1.1%.
USD/JPY dropped from 113.34 to 112.85 as of 13:07 GMT today, reaching the low of 112.65. EUR/JPY was stable at 134.72 after touching the daily low of 134.45. GBP/JPY ticked down from 151.81 to 151.70, and its daily low was at 151.47.
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