USD/JPY slumps to multi-month lows near 147.00 after weak US jobs data
- USD/JPY stays deep in negative territory on Friday.
- US Dollar weakens against its major rivals after July jobs report.
- Nonfarm Payrolls in the US rose by 114,000, missing the market expectation of 175,000.
USD/JPY extended its weekly slide and touched its weakest level since March near 147.00 on Friday. At the time of press, USD/JPY was trading at 147.80, where it was down 1% on a daily basis.
Japanese Yen PRICE This week
The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies this week. Japanese Yen was the strongest against the British Pound.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.36% | 0.38% | -3.69% | 0.07% | 0.11% | -1.48% | -2.00% | |
| EUR | 0.36% | 0.70% | -3.40% | 0.45% | 0.50% | -1.14% | -1.62% | |
| GBP | -0.38% | -0.70% | -4.12% | -0.27% | -0.20% | -1.82% | -2.31% | |
| JPY | 3.69% | 3.40% | 4.12% | 3.87% | 3.97% | 2.28% | 1.79% | |
| CAD | -0.07% | -0.45% | 0.27% | -3.87% | 0.07% | -1.58% | -2.04% | |
| AUD | -0.11% | -0.50% | 0.20% | -3.97% | -0.07% | -1.60% | -2.11% | |
| NZD | 1.48% | 1.14% | 1.82% | -2.28% | 1.58% | 1.60% | -0.50% | |
| CHF | 2.00% | 1.62% | 2.31% | -1.79% | 2.04% | 2.11% | 0.50% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent JPY (base)/USD (quote).
US jobs report disappoints
The broad-based selling pressure surrounding the US Dollar (USD) on dismal labor market data caused USD/JPY to push lower in the early American session. Reflecting the USD weakness, the US Dollar Index was last seen losing 0.85% on the day at 103.46.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) rose 114,000 in July, falling short of the market expectation of 175,000. Additionally, June’s increase of 206,000 got revised lower to 179,000. The Unemployment Rate edged higher to 4.3% from 4.2% in June and annual wage inflation, as measured by the change in Average Hourly Earnings, softened to 3.6% from 3.8%.
Earlier in the week, the Bank of Japan unexpectedly decided to raise its policy rate by 15 basis points, fuelling a Japanese Yen rally. On a weekly basis, USD/JPY is down over 3.5%.
Japanese Yen FAQs
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the world’s most traded currencies. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the differential between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.
One of the Bank of Japan’s mandates is currency control, so its moves are key for the Yen. The BoJ has directly intervened in currency markets sometimes, generally to lower the value of the Yen, although it refrains from doing it often due to political concerns of its main trading partners. The current BoJ ultra-loose monetary policy, based on massive stimulus to the economy, has caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers. This process has exacerbated more recently due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks, which have opted to increase interest rates sharply to fight decades-high levels of inflation.
The BoJ’s stance of sticking to ultra-loose monetary policy has led to a widening policy divergence with other central banks, particularly with the US Federal Reserve. This supports a widening of the differential between the 10-year US and Japanese bonds, which favors the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen.
The Japanese Yen is often seen as a safe-haven investment. This means that in times of market stress, investors are more likely to put their money in the Japanese currency due to its supposed reliability and stability. Turbulent times are likely to strengthen the Yen’s value against other currencies seen as more risky to invest in.
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
