The Yen is attacking. Overview for 31.01.2019

USDJPY is “sliding” downwards; the USD is getting cheaper due to the US regulator’s rhetoric.

The Japanese Yen is rising against the USD on Thursday more and more actively. The current quote for the instrument is 108.72.

The instrument started falling after the US Federal Reserve reaffirmed its position to be patient about further policy firming. The currency market players decided that it was a sign of long pauses between rate hikes, thus making the American currency go down. 

Due to this, today’s statistics from Japan were put on the back burner, although the numbers were worth paying attention to. According to the preliminary report, the Industrial Production seems to have improved: in December, the indicator lost only 0.1% m/m after plummeting by 1.0% m/m in November. The expected reading was -0.5% m/m. in fact, the number is good, even considering it is a preliminary one. 

If the Industrial Production is ready to recover, then there is a flash of optimism in the domestic demand as well. Later, one should pay attention to the Retail Sales report. If these positive numbers are confirmed, it can be said that negative economic trends are over at least for now.

The Japanese Real Estate market also revived in January and that’s a good sign. The Housing Starts expanded by 2.1% y/y this month after losing 0.6% y/y in December. The indicator was really expected to recover, but not as much as it did.