Yen Losing Ground: Market Review, 21.09.2018

The Japanese yen is weakening against the US dollar Friday, with the pair currently trading around 112.74. Today, the Japanese inflation came in, showing the indicator rose by 0.9% YoY, against 0.8% last month, which met expectations and was overall very good for the country's economy.

The manufacturing PMI preliminary value also rose and reached 52.90 against 52.50 in the previous month. Still, it came somewhat short of expectations that were high, at 53.10.

The business activity index that monitors all sectors came at zero, while it was expected to rise by 0.20% MoM. Still, the previous month, it fell by 0.90%, so this time the analysts were waiting for a recovery.

Still, there's not enough reason for being too optimistic. The report breakdown shows the business activity in construction was reduced by 0.60%, while the manufacturing production went down by 0.20%, and this could be worrying in case it had not fallen by 1.80% a month before.

The market is now being focused on the talk between the US and China regarding the trading terms. So far, the risk appetite has been quite high, which is bad for the yen.