Japan’s economic morass was on full display with today’s balance of trade read, which showed the biggest annual shortfall since 1979, driven by a weakened yen and a global surge in commodity prices.
Imports did slow down in December, perhaps even more than expected, but for the full year, they jumped over 39%, much faster than a 24.8% rise in 2021, driven mainly by minerals and, petroleum and gas.
The yen, seeing equities pushed lower, advanced against the dollar in this morning’s Asia trading window, with the USD/JPY pair falling 16 bsis points (bps) to 128.11. Advances of 0.5% were made against the pound and 0.3% against the euro.
Wednesday’s session saw the pound retreat from an intraday high of 1.243 against the greenback, which would have seen the GBP/USD pair hit eight-month highs. The pair still closed in the green, although this morning has seen a further drawback to 1.230.
Cable sent lower after testing a key resistance point – Source: capital.com
EUR/USD performed a similar intraday retreat to 1.079, although the euro looks comparatively stronger this morning, having inched higher to 1.080.
Today’s jobless claims in the US are expected to underscore a resilient jobs market in the face of recessionary fears, but a drastic over or undercalculation of the forecast could cause the greenback to rise or fall on the FX markets accordingly.
For the moment, the US Dollar Index (DXY) continues to range below the 102 barrier.