- The Forex market is dominated by continuing weakness in the Japanese Yen, despite what seems to be quiet Yen buying from the Bank of Japan and verbal intervention from Japanese policymakers, plus unscheduled bond purchases from the BoJ. The key USD/JPY currency pair has traded extremely close to the big round number at ¥150 and threatens to break above it any minute, which is another new 32-year high price. It may be that effective intervention will be implemented once this level is reached, or natural profit taking from long positions will see the price make at least a temporary peak in this area, but dedicated trend traders will hope to see still higher prices over the coming days.
- Market sentiment has soured on marginally poor, yet disappointing, inflation data released yesterday, which showed annualized inflation in the UK increasing to a 40-year high and month-on-month inflation in Canada increasing when it had been expected to fall slightly. This has produced falling stock markets and rising bond yields, with both the US 2-year and 10-year treasury yields rising to new multi-year highs.
- Australian employment data came in very slightly worse than expected, although the headline unemployment rate remained unchanged at a historically low 3.5%.
- There will be a release today of the latest US Philly Manufacturing Index, which indicates the health of the US manufacturing sector.
- Daily new coronavirus cases globally fell slightly last week.
- It is estimated that 68.3% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination, while approximately 8% of the global population is confirmed to have contracted the virus at some time, although the true number is highly likely to be much larger.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 631.5 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.04%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be significantly increasing only in Germany, Italy, and Singapore.
Forex Today: USD/JPY a Whisker Off ¥150
By Adam Lemon
Adam Lemon began his role at DailyForex in 2013 when he was brought in as an in-house Chief Analyst. Adam trades Forex, stocks and other instruments in his own account. Adam believes that it is very possible for retail traders/investors to secure a positive return over time provided they limit their risks, follow trends, and persevere through short-term losing streaks – provided only reputable brokerages are used. He has previously worked within financial markets over a 12-year period, including 6 years with Merrill Lynch.
The Bank of Japan fails to implement any effective intervention to support the Yen, which continues to fall, as the USD/JPY currency pair trades just a few pips off the big ¥150 handle.