- BOJ chief at parliamentary committee says easing to continue until goal in sight
- Japan core CPI -0.1% YoY
- Japan household spending falls more than expected at -2.3% YoY
- Japanese unemployment rate -4.6%
- Regional bourses +0.75% on average
- Gold $1723/oz, Oil $108.50/bbl
Continued weakness in the Yen was the only factor to emerge from an otherwise very quiet session. USD/JPY opened near 81.10 and has moved stealthily higher, posting a high at 81.51 in late trade. Fixing demand led to the first move higher, which topped out at 81.30 and after a brief pullback to 81.15, the buyers returned. The JPY crosses have also moved higher with AUD/JPY breaking above a weekly high at 87.75.
EUR/USD saw its session highs at the time of the Tokyo fix as EUR/JPY demand led the way. Since then a mainly stronger USD has seen EUR/USD drift lower, albeit in very tight ranges, 1.3297/1.3332
AUD/USD has had a similar path to the EUR, rising first on AUD/JPY buying and then retreating oon the stronger greenback. Ranges: 1.0782/1.0817
Cable 1.5942/66; EUR/CHF 1.2053/70