Japan exports rose 9.3 percent year-on-year in December

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

Japan Ministry of Finance reported a 9.3 percent year-on-year rise in exports in December, underscoring a steady growth in external demand. Markets were expecting export growth of 12.3 percent. Also, as per MOF, December exports amount was the biggest since September 2008.

Meanwhile, imports rose 14.9 percent, beating the estimate of 12.3 percent. Therefore, the trade surprlus came-in at JPY 359 billion vs. JPY 530 billion expected and JPY 113.4 billion previous.

A sustained recovery in Japanese exports throughout 2014 highlights strong demand in globel economy and also questions the need to maintain negative interest rate policy.

Key points (Source: Bloomberg)

Japan’s adjusted trade balance showed surplus of 86.8 billion yen (forecast 276.7 billion yen).
Exports to China, Japan’s largest trading partner, rose 15.8 percent from a year earlier.
Shipments to the U.S. increased 3 percent.
Shipments to the EU rose 11.4 percent.

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

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

EUR/USD climbs to daily highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD now picks up pace and advances to the area of daily peaks north of the 1.1800 barrier at the end of the week. The pair’s decent move higher comes against the backdrop of a generalised lack of direction in the FX galaxy and the mild offered stance in the US Dollar.

GBP/USD trims losses, retests 1.3460

After briefly challenging its key 200-day SMA near 1.3440, GBP/USD now manages to regain some balance and revisit the 1.3460 zone on Friday. Cable’s pullback comes as the selling pressure on the Greenback gathers traction, reigniting some recovery in the risk-linked space.

Gold flirts with four-week highs past $5,200

Gold extends its rebound, climbing for a third consecutive session and pushing back above the $5,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The move higher continues to draw support from lingering geopolitical tensions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, both of which are keeping safe-haven demand firmly in play.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple consolidate with short-term cautious bullish bias

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are consolidating near key technical areas on Friday, showing mild signs of stabilization after recent volatility. BTC holds above $67,000 despite mild losses so far this week, while ETH hovers around $2,000 after a rejection near its upper consolidation boundary.

Breaking: US and Israel attack Iran, risk aversion to sweep global markets

Early Saturday, United States (US) President Donald Trump announced that the US had begun “major combat operations” in Iran, following Israel’s pre-emptive missile attacks against Tehran.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.