The Japanese yen was little changed against the US dollar but fell against the euro and the Swiss franc during the current trading session due to unfavorable macroeconomic data and a surprise statement from the Bank of Japan chief.
The Nikkei Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index slid from 53.3 in February to 52.6 in March instead of rising a little to 53.5 as analysts had predicted.
BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda spoke at the Reuters Newsmaker event today, stating that he sees no reason to remove monetary stimulus:
While some improvements have been observed in economic and price developments, there is still a long way to go to achieve our price target.
That was a surprise to many experts as most of them were expecting Japan’s central bank to start making policy less accommodative very soon.
USD/JPY traded close to its opening level of 110.97 as of 10:22 GMT today. EUR/JPY rallied from 119.66 to 119.97. CHF/JPY gained from 111.71 to 112.00.
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