According to FXStreet, on December 9, the Japanese Yen (JPY) increased in value but continued to have difficulty attracting significant momentum and extending the fluctuating price trend against the US Dollar (USD).
Despite Japan’s upward revision of its Q3 GDP figures, doubts over the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) ability to raise interest rates again in December have been a major drag on the JPY. This, along with a slight rise in the USD, has provided further support for the USD/JPY pair.
However, geopolitical tensions, along with concerns about upcoming trade tariffs from US President-elect Donald Trump and the recent decline in US government bond yields, have been a strength for the Yen, which means caution is needed before making any strong trading decisions around the USD/JPY pair. Investors may also look to US consumer inflation data due this week for further clues on the pace of rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and other significant drivers.
The US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report released on Friday showed the economy added 227,000 jobs in November, compared with a revised 36,000 the previous month and a forecast of 200,000.
Additional details from the report showed the unemployment rate edged up to 4.2% in November from 4.1% as expected, and average hourly earnings held steady at 4% versus forecasts of 3.9%.
This important jobs data reinforces market expectations that the Fed will find it difficult to pause its easing cycle and will continue to cut interest rates at its policy meeting in December.
Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said she supported a cautious rate cut and stressed that core inflation remains above the central bank's 2% target.
The yield on the 10-year US government bond remained near its lowest level since October 21, limiting the dollar's recovery from multi-week lows and supporting the lower-yielding Japanese yen.
According to Lao Dong, updated at 1:00 p.m. on December 9, the USD/JPY exchange rate is currently fluctuating around 150.121 USD/JPY, meaning 1 USD can be exchanged for about 150 JPY.
Update the latest Yen exchange rate HERE.
