USD/JPY is stable on Wednesday, as the pair trades in the mid-117 range. On the release front, there are a host of key US events ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. There are Japanese releases on the calendar.
The Japanese yen continues to trade at low levels, and BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda addressed this on Tuesday, noting that the soft yen was having a negative effect on the Japanese economy. The yen received a boost after the BoJ minutes showed that some policymakers opposed the BoJ’s decision to expand its stimulus program last month. At that time, the BoJ shocked the markets when it increased its government debt purchases from JPY 60-70 trillion to 80 trillion per year. The yen reacted by dropping sharply against the dollar, falling to 7-year lows.
US economic growth continues to rack up impressive numbers, posting an excellent gain of 3.9% in Q3, well above the estimate of 3.3%. This followed a gain in Q2 of 4.2%, which also beat the estimate. This was the strongest two-quarter performance since 2003, and has raised expectations about the Fed raising rates in the first half of 2014. The other key release, Consumer Confidence, was unexpectedly soft, dropping to 88.7 points. This was well off the estimate of 95.9 points.
USD/JPY 117.72 H: 117.90 L: 117.59
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