Forex Today: Yen crosses bid despite G7 debacle, trade fears may hurt USD

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

The FX markets showed uncanny resilience to heightened trade tensions in Asia. The US President Donald Trump’s decision to abruptly withdraw his support for a Group of Seven (G7) communique and the attack on his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau did put a bid under the anti-risk JPY in Early Asia. But, the risk sentiment unexpectedly stabilized, lifting the Yen cross higher.

For instance, USD/JPY rose from 109.28 to 109.83. Also, AUD/JPY - the risk barometer, rose from 82.95 to 83.56, signaling risk reset. Further, the equities also picked up a bid. Nikkei, Hang Seng, and NIfty posted gains, while S&P/ASX 200 and Shanghai Composite reported moderate losses.

Key news in Asia

The US could struggle to re-isolate North Korea as Kim turns to China for help with the economic transformation

As reported by Reuters, US President Trump may have a tough time re-isolating North Korea if the upcoming Trump-Kim summit takes a turn.

Germany's Merkel: US support withdrawal from G7 communique is sobering

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Trump's decision to withdraw support from G7 communique sobering and bit depressing and reiterated readiness to implement tit-for-tat tariffs.

Trump tweets: "We protect Europe and then get unfairly clobbered on trade"

President Trump singled out German regarding NATO Payments and stressed the need to correct US-Europe trade imbalances.

Key focus ahead

The West is in a crisis of sorts after Trump pulled support for a G7 communique that called for a fair and balanced trade. So, the response from the European and US stock markets to the developments over the weekend will likely guide the FX markets. The Yen crosses may rise further if the European and US stocks report gains.

Also, heightened trade tensions may complicate matters for the Fed, so, the greenback could run into offers. But, the ECB and other major central banks are not immune to trade tensions either. Hence, the losses in the greenback will likely be moderate.

Amid the trade worries, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) is scheduled to release UK manufacturing data. An above-forecast reading could strengthen the bid tone around GBP.

Majors

EUR/USD: Corrective rally stalls on weak data, conflicting signals on the charts

GBP/USD remains familiar with 1.34 as impending rate hike, Brexit developments freeze traders

USD/JPY makes a run for 110.00 as risk appetite swings back into the Monday markets

USD/CAD fades spike to 1.30

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

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