Macroeconomic data released in Japan today was good, but the Japanese yen fell nevertheless. It looks like market participants continued to eschew currencies perceived to be a safe haven.
The Tokyo core Consumer Price Index rose 0.7% in June from a year ago, accelerating from 0.5% in May and beating market expectations of a 0.6% growth. The unemployment rate unexpectedly edged down from 2.5% in April to 2.2% in May. Industrial production fell 0.2% in May from the previous month (seasonally adjusted), demonstrating a rate of decline that was far slower than analysts had predicted — 1.1%. Housing starts rose by 1.3% in May instead of falling by 5.9% as forecasts had promised. The Consumer Confidence Index was little changed at 43.7 in June, matching expectations.
USD/JPY rose from 110.47 to 110.85 as of 19:33 GMT today. EUR/JPY soared from 127.90 to 129.33, trading near the highest level since June 14. GBP/JPY climbed from 144.47 to 146.20.
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