USD/JPY consolidates below 109.50 ahead of US retail sales
- USD/JPY extends the previous day’s lull performance and remains muted on Thursday.
- US Dollar Index slips below 92.50 still recovering from cooler-than-expected US inflation data.
- The Japanese Yen gains on its safe-haven appeal amid reduced risk appetite among investors.
USD/JPY edges lower on Thursday in the initial Asian trading session. The pair trades in a very narrow trade range with no meaningful traction. At the time of writing, USD/JPY is trading at 109.35, down 0.01% for the day.
The depreciative move in the greenback keeps USD/JPY on the edge. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the buck against the basket of six major currencies trades lower below 92.50 with 0.16% losses.
The US benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 2.2 basis points to 1.30% ahead of the critical Retail sales data, due to be released today. The US Industrial Production grew 0.4% in August as compared to 0.8% in July whereas NY Business activity jumped 34.3 in September from 18.3 in August, much above the market forecast of 18.
Meantime, the US House of Representatives committee agreed on the legislation to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations but remained divided on a provision to slash drug prices
On the other hand, the Japanese Yen gains on its safe-haven appeal. A Reuters poll revealed a majority of Japanese firms believe the world’s third-largest economy will recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.
On the data front, Japan recorded a trade deficit of ¥635.40 billion in August. The downbeat reading capped the gains for the domestic currency. As for now, traders are waiting for the US Retail Sales data and Initial Jobless Claims to gauge the market sentiment.
USD/JPY additional levels
Author
Rekha Chauhan
Independent Analyst
Rekha Chauhan has been working as a content writer and research analyst in the forex and equity market domain for over two years.
