Yen Higher On US-China Tensions
May 28 2020 - 11:50PM
RTTF2
The Japanese yen strengthened against its major counterparts in
the Asian session on Friday amid rising risk aversion, as US-China
tensions escalated after China approved a controversial national
security law for Hong Kong.
Trump will hold a press conference later today to provide
details about response to China over its treatment of Hong
Kong.
Investors also turned cautious after a raft of nation's economic
data, including weak industrial output and retail sales data for
April.
In economic news, Japan's industrial output skidded a seasonally
adjusted 9.1 percent in April. That missed expectations for a
decline of 5.1 percent following the 3.7 percent drop in March.
The total value of retail sales in Japan was down a seasonally
adjusted 9.6 percent on month in April, shy of expectations for a
decline of 7.0 percent following the 4.5 percent drop in March.
The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted
2.6 percent in April, beneath expectations for 2.7 percent, but up
from 2.5 percent in March.
Overall consumer prices in Japan were up 0.4 percent on year in
May, exceeding expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent, which
would have been unchanged from the April reading. Core CPI, which
excludes volatile food costs, gained an annual 0.2 percent versus
forecasts for a decline of 0.2 percent after easing 0.1 percent in
the previous month.
The yen rose to 132.18 against the pound, 111.19 against the
franc and 118.86 against the euro, from its early lows of 132.73,
111.72 and 119.33, respectively. The next possible resistance for
the yen is seen around 129.00 against the pound, 107.5 against the
franc and 116.5 against the euro.
The yen appreciated to an 11-day high of 107.08 against the
greenback, 2-day high of 66.47 against the kiwi and a 3-day high of
against the loonie, off its early lows of 107.72, 66.84 and 78.22,
respectively. The yen is seen challenging resistance around 104.00
against the greenback, 63.00 against the kiwi and 75.00 against the
loonie.
The yen gained to 71.13 against the aussie, after falling to
71.51 earlier in the session. The yen is likely to face resistance
around the 68.00 region, if it gains again.
Looking ahead, Swiss KOF leading indicator and Eurozone consumer
inflation for May are due in the European session.
Canada GDP data for March, U.S. personal income and spending
data for April and University of Michigan's consumer sentiment
index for May will be featured in the New York session.
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