It was a light day for news and data flow here in Asia.

We did get the Q4 Bank of Japan Tankan report with some better results than in Q3. Also of note, company inflation expectations remain above the 2% BoJ target out to five years. While rumours and leaks this week have indicated the Bank of Japan will leave rates on hold at its December 18-19 meeting, the Tankan report would not preclude a hike.

USD/JPY responded by trading up above 152.90 briefly. After dripping back to 152.70 and thereabouts the pair traded above 153.00 for the first time this month.

The USD displayed a little strength more broadly also. Like I said, there was little news flow so the move was attributed to follow-through after the stronger than expected US PPI data on Thursday.

While China’s central economic work conference made comforting announcements on Thursday, the specifics (targets etc) are not expected until the National People’s Congress in March. Chinese equities were hammered.

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