Yen wallows near two-week trough amid calm trading
The Japanese yen fell in Asian trade on Monday against a basket of major rivals, extending losses for the second straight session against the dollar and about to plumb two-week lows amid calm trading.
It comes as intense trade negotiations between Japan and the US progress in hopes of reaching a suitable deal for both sides.
The Bank of Japan is convening this week to discuss monetary policies appropriate for the latest economic developments, and is widely expected to maintain interest rates unchanged.
The Price
The USD/JPY pair rose 0.2% today to 143.88 yen per dollar, with a session-low at 143.53.
The yen lost 0.75% on Friday, the third loss in four days, plumbing two-week lows at 144.03 on hopes for the success of the trade negotiations.
The yen lost 1.1% last week against the dollar, the first weekly loss in a month as haven demand on the yen slowed down with Trump aiming to calm and assure the global markets.
Trade Negotiations
Traders are closely monitoring any developments in US trade negotiations, especially as Trump sought to rule out any extension to the pause on high tariffs.
Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea are seeking to make temporary deals to avoid the imposition of the strict US tariffs before the 90-day pause ends in early July.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration is working on making trade deals with 17 trade partners, excepting China.
He reasserted the administration’s position that economic pressure will force China to the negotiation table, as they couldn’t handle 145% US tariffs.
US President Donald Trump said his team is very close to making a trade deal with Japan, however, Japan’s officials dismissed reports about talks to fix or change the forex rate between the yen and the dollar.
BOJ
The Bank of Japan is convening this week to discuss the monetary policies, expected to hold interest rates flat at 0.5%, the highest since 2008.
The BOJ will discuss the impact of the US trade war on the exports-reliant Japanese economy, which could determine the pace of rate hikes in the near future.
Wall Street closes solidly higher, marking weekly gains
US stock indices rallied on Friday on optimism about the US-China trade dispute while the markets focused on corporate results.
Wall Street was boosted recently as the trade war risks receded after US President Donald Trump signalled a potential lessening of tariffs on Chinese goods.
A Bloomberg report also indicated the Chinese government is considering tariff exemptions for some US products.
This week, quarterly results by Tesla, IBM, Alphabet, and Intel were released, and were mostly positive, but they all gave up weak forecasts for this year.
The Consumer Confidence index from the University of Michigan dropped 8.4% this month to 52.2 from March’s 57.
Dow Jones closed 0.1% higher at 40113 points, marking a weekly profit of 2%.
S&P 500 rose 0.7%, or 40 points to 5525 points, with a weekly profit of 4%.
NASDAQ surged 1.3% to 17,383 points, with a weekly gain of 6%.
Ethereum spikes over 12% this week
Ethereum gained ground on Friday as the risk appetite improved and crypto demand rallied on optimism about the US-China trade dispute.
High-risk assets were boosted recently as the trade war risks receded after US President Donald Trump signalled a potential lessening of tariffs on Chinese goods.
A Bloomberg report also indicated the Chinese government is considering tariff exemptions for some US products.
The Consumer Confidence index from the University of Michigan dropped 8.4% this month to 52.2 from March’s 57.
Ethereum
On trading, ethereum rose 1.8% as of 20:56 GMT on Coinmarketcap to $1794.1, with a weekly profit of 12.8%.
Loonie settles down after retail sales data
The Canadian dollar was little changed against most major rivals on Friday following mixed data.
Earlier government data showed retail sales fell 0.4% last month as expected, while core sales, excluding food and energy, rose 0.5%, as analysts expected a 0.1%% dip.
On trading, the CAD/USD pair fell 0.1% today as of 20:43 GMT to 0.7214.
Sterling
The GBP/USD pair fell 0.1% as of 20:44 GMT to $1.3330.
US Dollar
The dollar index rose 0.1% today to 99.5, with a session-high at 99.8, and a low at 99.4.
Wall Street was boosted recently as the trade war risks receded after US President Donald Trump signalled a potential lessening of tariffs on Chinese goods.
A Bloomberg report also indicated the Chinese government is considering tariff exemptions for some US products.
The Consumer Confidence index from the University of Michigan dropped 8.4% this month to 52.2 from March’s 57.