Yen Rallies Against the Dollar on Weak US Retail Sales, Later Drops

The  Japanese yen today rallied against the  US dollar driven by  the  risk-off sentiment, which dominated markets from the  early European session. The  USD/JPY currency pair extended its losses in  the  early American session following the  release of  disappointing US retail sales report.
The  USD/JPY currency pair today fell from a  high of  109.69 in  the  European session to  a  low of  109.13 in  the  early American session, but had recovered most of  its losses at  the  time of  writing.
The  currency pair traded in  a  sideways manner at  the  start of  today’s session as  Asian markets rallied higher boosted by  investor hopes that China would initiate further stimulus measures. The  yen rallied briefly following the  release of  Japanese housing starts for  March, which came in  at  an  annualized 10.0% versus the  expected 5.8% print.However, the  risk sentiment abated in  the  early European session as  traders from the  region were quite risk-averse in  the  face of  the  US-China trade standoff. The  US and  China have instituted retaliatory tariffs on  each others exports and  the  US has threatened to  ban Chinese telecom products, while China has threatened severe countermeasures.
The  yen extended its gains against the  greenback following the  release of  disappointing US advance retail sales data in  the  early American session. According to  the  Census Bureau report, headline US retail sales contracted by  0.2%, while core sales missed expectations by  0.6%.
The  currency pair’s future performance is likely to  be affected by  trade headlines and  tomorrow’s US housing data.
The USD/JPY currency pair was trading at 109.58 as at 14:33 GMT having recovered from a low of 109.13. The CAD/JPY currency pair was trading at 81.40 having risen from a low of 80.91.

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