The yen took a beating today while Japanese equities jumped. USD/JPY traded up to just shy of 147.50 on the back of comments from Bank of Japan deputy governor Uchida. The key point FX markets latched onto were that Uchida said the Bank of Japan won’t raise rates while markets are unstable. There is more from him in the bullets above but that headline was the kicker.

USD/JPY and yen crosses were extremely volatile. Liquidity and volume remain below average in such a skittish market. Lows during the early Asian morning were around 144.30, making for a 300+ point range.

The Nikkei rose more than 2% and the Topix more than 3%.

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uchida

Jobs data from New Zealand showed the labour market is softening, but wage growth remains on the high side, partly supported by government pay agreements. The flip side of higher wages, though, is less total hours worked. The unemployment rate rose in Q2 from Q1, but not by as much as was expected. Employment was expected to have decreased, but it rose. There was no compelling argument from this data for an August rate cut. NZD/USD jumped on the report, and after a pullback made new session highs and has sustained these as I update.

AUD/USD rose also. From the Reserve Bank of Australia today we had Assistant Governor (Economic) Hunter speaking. She said that the economy is running a little hotter than the Reserve Bank of Australia thought previously.

Trade data from China showed exports grew for a fourth straight month.