“¢ US-China trade tensions-led global flight to safety continues to underpin JPY.
“¢ Dismal Chinese export data adds to concerns about an economic slowdown.
“¢ A modest uptick in the US bond yields now seemed to lend some support.
The safe-haven Japanese Yen remained well bid on Wednesday and momentarily dragged the USD/JPY pair below the key 110.00 psychological mark during the Asian session.
The Japanese Yen has been one of the strongest major currencies and continues to benefit from the global flight to safety amid renewed concerns over a full-blown US-China trade war. The prevailing risk-off environment, evident from a sea of red across global equity markets, continued underpinning the JPY’s relative safe-haven status and has been one of the key factors weighing on the major for the fourth consecutive session.
It is worth reporting that the US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he will raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and triggered a fresh wave of global risk-aversion trade. Meanwhile, the fact that China’s Vice Premier is set to travel to Washington and the next round of trade negotiations will continue this week, did little to stall the pair’s ongoing slide to the lowest level since March 25.
The already weaker risk sentiment dented further following the disappointing release of Chinese April exports data, which largely offset a rebound in Chinese imports and fueled fears of a deeper economic slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. The pair touched an intraday low level of 109.90 but now seems to have found some support amid a modest uptick in the US Treasury bond yields, albeit lacked any strong follow-through.
In absence of any major market moving economic releases from the US, it would be prudent to wait for a strong follow-through recovery before confirming that the pair might have actually bottomed out in the near-term and positioning for any further near-term appreciating move.
Technical levels to watch
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