USD/JPY traded briefly above 145.00 in Asian morning trade. USD/JPY rally prompted a statement from Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki. Such a statement has become a regular occurrence as the yen has weakened in the past months, usually followed by moves of rapid depreciation in the yen’s value. Suzuki stepped up his comments to a higher warning level today, specifically adding:
- Sharp unilateral moves in the foreign exchange market.
I posted back in early June this:
It is a useful guide to use in assessing the threat of intervention.
Earlier in the session, we got inflation data from Japan, for Tokyo in June. All three measures remained above 3% but came in below average expectations, mainly due to the impact of the base effect. The prices of services did not change during the month, while the prices of commodities increased.
Official PMIs for June from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) are also on the data agenda today. Manufacturing remained in contraction for the third consecutive month, while services eased slightly and remained in solid expansion.
The People’s Bank of China set the local yuan at its weakest level for the Chinese yuan since early November last year. USD/CNH is slightly lower in the session so far around 7.26 on post.
The Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar and the Canadian dollar added a few pips against the US dollar but the ranges were small.
USD/JPY is little net change per day:
