USD/JPY holds higher in first session of four

The US dollar fluctuated in a narrow bullish range against the Japanese yen during the Asian session, to rebound from its second-lowest session since the beginning of April, following the release of Japanese developments and economic data, and on the threshold of a release of economic data expected on Thursday By the US economy.

At 05:59 GMT, USD/JPY rose 0.05% to 111.07 from the opening levels of 111.01, after reaching a high of 111.13, while the lowest at 110.91.

We followed the Bank of Japan's release of the annual reading of Japan's M2 lending index, which showed a steady growth of 2.4% in line with expectations, unchanged from last year's February reading. This came hours after the BOJ Governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, stated That his country's economy is growing at a moderate pace and that the Japanese central bank's inflation target of two percent helps to stabilize the currency in the long term.

Kuroda also said on Wednesday that the Bank of Japan is trying to create the conditions in which inflationary pressures accelerate in conjuction with the rise in corporate profits and the increase in wages, with the hope that inflation may stabilize at only one percent as the momentum of wage growth weakens, adding that exports and productivity are affected by the slowdown of economic growth, while achieving the inflation target of 2% may take some time, explaining that it is appropriate to proceed with monetary easing.

Earlier this year, the Japanese government announced earlier this month a 10-day holiday from Saturday (27 April) to Monday (6 May) for Japan's celebrations of the new emperor there, which for crowning the Prince at the beginning of May, it's worth mentioning that this six-day holiday will be the longest in Japan's history.

On the other hand, the markets are currently waiting for the US economy to release the Producer Price Index (PPI) reading, which is a preliminary indicator of inflationary pressures, as it may reflect a rise in growth rate by 0.3% versus 0.1% in February, while the same index may show growth stability at 1.9%, less than the previous reading for February.

In the same context, the core reading of the PPI may show a growth by 0.2% from 0.1% in February, while the core annual reading for the same index may show a slowdown in growth to 2.4% from 2.5% in the previous reading, In conjunction with the release of the Initial jobless claims index reading, which may show an increase of 8 thousand applications to a total of 210 thousand applications during the week ended in the sixth of April.

While the continuing jobless claims index may also show a rise of 18K to a total of 1,735K in the week ending March 30, before FOMC Members Clarida, John Williams, James Bullard and Michelle Bowman Speak about the economic outlook and monetary policy later today.

This comes hours after the release of the Federal Reserve meeting minutes held on 19-20 March, which touched a gradual reduction in bond repurchases until September, with the Commission reducing its forecast for growth rates while raising the unemployment forecasts, as they also receded from their previous forecasts of a couple of rate hikes this year, and kept expectations to raise it once in 2020, as they agreed to keep interest rates between 2.25% and 2.50%.