USD/JPY ticked net higher during the session, breaching above 155.00 again. News flow from Japan was quiet with, most notably, nothing in the way of verbal intervention from Japanese authorities to slow the yen’s fall.

From the data calendar we had Japanese trade data for October. These showed a rise for exports y/y during the month, rebounding from a 43-month low in September.

Blackstone is near agreement to buy a Tokyo office complex. The deal is worth around 400bn yen (approximately 2.6bn USD) , which would be one of the most expensive real estate transactions in Japan.

There was activity in China. China’s unchanged monthly loan prime rate (LPR) fixings left the one-year LPR at 3.1%, and the five-year at 3.6%, after 25 bp cuts to each last month. The on-hold decisions were a unanimous expectation.

  • USD/CNH climbed after the People’s Bank of China set the daily USD/CNY reference rate about 450 points lower than the neutral estimate of 7.2385. The PBoC is seeking to prop up the yuan (damping USD/CNY) in this way but markets are taking it lower regardless (against the super USD at least!).
  • Fees for ETF were cut, another effort to support stock markets.

***

Major FX tracked limited ranges with some USD weakness early (EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, CAD all higher before retracing).

usdyen wrap 20 November 2024 2