Investing.com - The U.S. dollar got back to its winning ways against the Japanese yen during Friday’s Asian session as a pair of Japanese inflation reports showed the world’s third-largest economy is still grappling with deflationary pressures.
In Asian trading Friday, USD/JPY surged 0.23% to 90.55. The pair was likely to find support at 88.06, Wednesday's low, and has now broken through resistance at 90.25, the high from January 20.
The pair surged 1.56 to traverse the 90 level during Thursday’s U.S. session after Japan's Deputy Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said an exchange rate of 100 would not be troublesome. Nishimura’s comments stand in contrast to recent remarks by some Japanese leaders that have warned against the effects of allowing the yen to depreciate too rapidly against the greenback and other major currencies.
Earlier today, Japan’s Statistics Bureau said consumer price inflation fell to -0.2% in December from -0.1% in November. Analysts expected a December reading of -0.2%. The core CPI number, which excludes fresh food costs, rose to -0.5% from 0.6% in November. Analysts expected the core CPI to rise to -0.5% last month.
The Japanese inflation data show the economy is still contending with a heavy dose of deflation and that could be in the impetus the Bank of Japan needs to speed up its asset-buying program. Earlier this week, the central bank raised its inflation target to 2% from 1%, but disappointed markets when it said it would not commence an open-ended asset-buying program until 2014.
Minutes from that BoJ meeting released earlier today indicate the bank is committed to bold easing measures aimed at bolstering the floundering Japanese economy.
Elsewhere, EUR/JPY rose 0.04% to 120.90 while AUD/JPY added 0.11% to 94.55. GBP/JPY climbed 0.13% to 142.85 while NZD/JPY slid 0.06% to 75.68.
In Asian trading Friday, USD/JPY surged 0.23% to 90.55. The pair was likely to find support at 88.06, Wednesday's low, and has now broken through resistance at 90.25, the high from January 20.
The pair surged 1.56 to traverse the 90 level during Thursday’s U.S. session after Japan's Deputy Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said an exchange rate of 100 would not be troublesome. Nishimura’s comments stand in contrast to recent remarks by some Japanese leaders that have warned against the effects of allowing the yen to depreciate too rapidly against the greenback and other major currencies.
Earlier today, Japan’s Statistics Bureau said consumer price inflation fell to -0.2% in December from -0.1% in November. Analysts expected a December reading of -0.2%. The core CPI number, which excludes fresh food costs, rose to -0.5% from 0.6% in November. Analysts expected the core CPI to rise to -0.5% last month.
The Japanese inflation data show the economy is still contending with a heavy dose of deflation and that could be in the impetus the Bank of Japan needs to speed up its asset-buying program. Earlier this week, the central bank raised its inflation target to 2% from 1%, but disappointed markets when it said it would not commence an open-ended asset-buying program until 2014.
Minutes from that BoJ meeting released earlier today indicate the bank is committed to bold easing measures aimed at bolstering the floundering Japanese economy.
Elsewhere, EUR/JPY rose 0.04% to 120.90 while AUD/JPY added 0.11% to 94.55. GBP/JPY climbed 0.13% to 142.85 while NZD/JPY slid 0.06% to 75.68.