JPY underperformed overnight against its major counterparts amid no mention of FX rates by President Trump and PM Abe. Alongside this, stocks continued to trend higher while Japan also posted slower than expected growth for Q4 (1.0% vs. Exp. 1.1%). As such, USD/JPY pushed to hit 114 after breaking the downtrend technical level to the upside.
Elsewhere, FX markets have been somewhat subdued with major pairs trading within a tight range, given the light economic calendar. USD index is near enough unchanged for the session to trade around the 101.00, having recovered from the slight weakness seen in Asian trade after a pick-up in US yields. This has come to the detriment of GBP and EUR, with the latter down a modest 0.4% to begin the week. Price action for the greenback will likely be dictated by Fed Chair Yellen who begins her congressional testimony tomorrow at 1500GMT.
Ahead of President Trump’s meeting with PM Trudeau, CAD remains firm, despite the slip in oil prices with the Loonie still finding support from Friday’s stellar jobs report. While the gains in iron prices (30-month highs) have failed to keep AUD afloat with currency weighed by softness observed in the precious metals complex (Spot gold -1%).