EUR/JPY pressured lower after cooling inflation weighs on single currency

EUR/JPY trades just over a third of a percent lower on Tuesday, in the 159.30s. The pair declines after the release of Eurozone inflation data shows lower-than-expected inflation in the bloc, which suggests the European Central Bank (ECB) will be more likely to cut interest rates in future meetings. This, in turn, is likely to lead to outflows of capital and a weaker Euro.

The Eurozone Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) came out at 1.8% in September from 2.2% previously and 1.9% forecast, according to Eurostat. Core HICP fell to 2.7% from 2.8% previously and the same expected. The data backs up comments from the ECB President Christine Lagarde who hinted that inflation was falling back to the central bank’s 2.0% target, as expected. "The latest developments strengthen our confidence that inflation will return to target in a timely manner," she said on Monday.

EUR/JPY had been rising at the start of the week after Japan’s incoming Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba wrong-footed markets which had expected him to take a neutral approach. The Yen rallied after the news of Ishiba’s victory over rival Sanae Takaichi due to Takaichi’s explicit favoring of a weak Yen to help Japanese exporters. However, on Monday Ishiba said that monetary policy ought to be kept accommodative (interest rates low) because the economic conditions didn’t warrant higher rates. His comments took investors by surprise and gave EUR/JPY a lift. 

The Japanese Jibun Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) showed a slight rise in manufacturing activity, pushing up to 49.7 in September according to data released on Tuesday during the Asian session, which was higher than the 49.6 in the previous month, and expectations of the same. The data, though still in contraction territory, may have further put pressure on EUR/JPY.