Yen selling pauses, attention shifts to PMIs

USDJPY extended its uptrend and touched its highest level since late July above 153.00, gaining more than 1% on Wednesday.

Reflecting the broad-based selling pressure surrounding the JPY, EURJPY rose 0.95% and GBPJPY added 0.6%. Early Thursday, USDJPY corrects lower and was last seen losing 0.35% on the day below 152.50.

Speaking on the policy outlook late Wednesday, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda noted that it’s taking time for them to get to the 2% inflation target in a sustainable manner.

“It’s very hard to pin down the appropriate size of rate hikes from here,” he added.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato refrained from commenting on a possible intervention in foreign exchanged markets, reiterating that it’s desirable for currencies to move stably, reflecting economic fundamentals.

Following its October meeting, the Bank of Canada decided to lower the policy rate by 50 basis points to 3.75% as expected.

In the post-meeting press conference, BoC Governor Tiff Macklem said that the shelter price inflation has started to come off, increasing their confidence that it will gradually continue to ease. USDCAD stretched higher following the BoC event and touched its highest level since early August above 1.3860. The pair stays on the back foot early Thursday and declines toward 1.3800.

EURUSD continued to push lower and closed the third consecutive day in the red on Wednesday. The pair recovers modestly in the European morning, but stays below 1.0800.

GBPUSD lost 0.5% on Wednesday and came in within a touching distance of 1.2900. The pair edges higher toward 1.2950 to start the European session.

Gold climbed toward $2,760 and set a new all-time high during the European trading hours on Wednesday.

As the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield rose to a three-month high above 4.25%, however, XAUUSD lost its traction and ended the day with a loss of more than 1%. The precious metal regains its traction and trades in positive territory above $2,730.

(Source: OANDA)