The Japanese yen continued to rise today, gaining for the sixth consecutive trading session. The currency continued to get support from risk aversion on markets, which made investors stick with safer assets.
One of the main reason for investors’ worries was the collapse of stock markets following the policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. Most US stock indices fell more than 1% yesterday, while today most Asian stocks posted big losses as well. European equities fell too, though their losses were not as big.
Another reason for worries was the threat of a government shutdown in the United States. US President Donald Trump demanded the government to fund a wall on the border with Mexico, and he twitted today:
Shutdown today if Democrats do not vote for Border Security!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
As for news from Japan itself, inflation slowed last month. Japan’s core Consumer Price Index rose 0.9% in November, year-on-year, while analysts had expected the same 1.0% rate of growth as in October.
USD/JPY dropped from 111.28 to 111.06 as of 14:42 GMT today, retreating from the daily high of 111.46. EUR/JPY declined from 127.38 to 126.70, pulling back from the session maximum of 127.68. GBP/JPY went down from 140.82 to 140.27, while its daily maximum was at 141.16.
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