Japan’s Macroeconomic Data Mixed, Yen Gains

The Japanese yen rallied against the vast majority of other most-traded currencies today. Together with the strong bounce of the US dollar, that suggests that the market sentiment shifted into a risk-off mode. But the rebound of the riskier commodity-related Australian dollar puts such thinking into question.
According to a report from Japan’s Cabinet Office, core machinery orders rose by 5.2% in December after edging up by 1.5% in November and jumping by as much as 17.1% in October. The December increase was a total surprise to experts who were expecting a drop of 6.1%.
Data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance revealed that the trade balance surplus shrank from Â¥0.51 trillion in December 2020 to Â¥0.39 trillion in January 2021. Economists were expecting the indicator to stay little changed at about Â¥0.49 trillion. On the positive side, both imports and exports increased, it is just that imports have been rising faster than exports. Imports increased by 6.9%, while exports rose by 4.4%.
For the rest of the trading session, markets will be likely reacting to shifts in the general market sentiment as well as to macroeconomic releases in the United States. In particular, traders wait for the release of retail sales data. Minutes of the latest Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting can also have a big impact on markets.
USD/JPY fell from 106.03 to 105.97 as of 10:27 GMT today. EUR/JPY slumped from 128.35 to 127.86. AUD/JPY edged down just a little from 82.23 to 82.11.
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Original from: www.earnforex.com