The Japanese yen was soft today as mild risk appetite on the Forex market limited demand for the currency in its role of a safe haven. But the yen has trimmed losses by now, even managing to gain on some of its rivals. Domestic macroeconomic data was mixed, but no outright negative indicators were released today.
The Bank of Japan reported that the Service Producer Price Index rose by 2.1% in October from a year ago after rising by 0.5% in September. Analysts had predicted a smaller increase of 1.8%.
Also released by the BoJ, the core Consumer Price Index rose by 0.3% in October, year-on-year, the same as in September. Experts were predicting a bit bigger increase of 0.4%.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were talking with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and several other top Chinese negotiators over phone this morning. China’s Ministry of Commerce said in the statement:
Both sides discussed resolving core issues of common concern, reached consensus on how to resolve related problems (and) agreed to stay in contact over remaining issues for a phase one agreement.
The news bolstered hopes that a “phase-one” trade deal between the United States and China can be reached before the year’s end. Yet with no specific details released, many skeptics remained believing that the talks will drag on to the next year.
USD/JPY rose from 108.90 to 109.21 intraday but has retreated to 108.95 as of 12:30 GMT today. EUR/JPY traded at 120.03 following the earlier rally from 119.96 to 120.25. GBP/JPY was up from 140.43 to 140.90 earlier today but has tumbled to 140.15 by now.
If you have any questions, comments, or opinions regarding the Japanese Yen, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.
