Yen moves in negative zone as US yields rally
The Japanese yen fell in Asian trade on Monday against a basket of major rivals, moving in a negative zone against the US dollar and about to hit five-month lows under pressure from higher US treasury yields.
There remains divisions between Japanese policymakers with investors awaiting more clues on the path of monetary policy normalization this year.
The Price
The USD/JPY pair rose over 0.4% today to 157.83 yen per dollar, with a session-low at 157.14.
The yen rose nearly 0.2% against the dollar on Friday, the first profit in three days away from five-month lows at 158.08.
The yen also rose 0.35% last week against the dollar, marking the first weekly profit since late November under the watchful eyes of Japanese authorities, which sounded the alarm on the yen’s excessive weakness.
Japanese Rates
The current odds of a BOJ 0.25% interest rate hike in January stood at 55%, with investors now waiting for more inflation and labor data to gather more clues.
The Bank of Japan’s latest meeting minutes showed divisions, with some policymakers more confident about raising interest rates in the short term, while others are still cautious due to uncertainty about wages and Trump policies.
Bank of Japan Kazuo Ueda said in December the bank expects the economy to approach its 2% inflation target sustainably next year.
US Yields
US 10-year treasury yields rose 0.65% on Monday, expanding gains for the second session and almost hitting seven-month highs, in turn boosting the dollar’s standing.
According to the Fedwatch tool, the odds of a January 0.25% interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve stood at just 11%.
Ripple spikes over 13% this week
Most cryptocurrencies gained ground on Friday with strong weekly profits as the risk appetite improved and demand spiked.
Markets are looking forward to Donald Trump’s US inauguration later this month, and his protectionist policies aimed at China, the EU, Canada, and others.
Earlier US data showed the manufacturing PMI slipped to 49.3 in December from 49.4 in November, still beating estimates of 48.2.
Ripple
Ripple rallied 3% on Coinmarketcap as of 20:07 GMT to $2.46, marking a weekly profit of 13.4%.
Gold dips again, dollar loses ground
Gold prices fell on Friday even as the dollar dipped against most major rivals, with the precious metal falling on profit-taking after yesterday’s heavy gains.
Markets are looking forward to Donald Trump’s US inauguration later this month, and his protectionist policies aimed at China, the EU, Canada, and others.
Earlier US data showed the manufacturing PMI slipped to 49.3 in December from 49.4 in November, still beating estimates of 48.2.
Otherwise, the dollar index fell 0.4% as of 19:29 GMT to 108.9, with a session-high at 109.2, and a low at 108.9.
On trading, gold spot prices fell 0.5% as of 19:31 GMT to $2655.5 an ounce.
Wall Street gains ground on the back of the tech sector
US stock indices rose on Friday amid strong demand on tech shares, while markets await more data that would give clues on future Federal Reserve policies.
US Steel slid 6% to $30.7 after US President Joe Biden rejected Japan’s Nippon Steel offer to acquire the American company for national security reasons.
Later today, the US manufacturing PMI data for September will be released.
On trading, Dow Jones rose 0.5%, or 190 points to 42,583 points as of 15:11 GMT, while S&P 500 rose 0.7%, or 41 points to 5910 points, as NASDAQ added 0.9%, or 181 points to 19,461 points.