USD/JPY hits ¥150 for the first time since October 2022
The USD/JPY briefly rose above $150 per dollar on speculation that Japanese authorities may have intervened to support its currency. A couple of comments stoked speculation.
USD/JPY
The USD/JPY briefly rose above $150 per dollar on speculation that Japanese authorities may have intervened to support its currency. A couple of comments stoked speculation. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said yesterday that currency rates should be set by the market, and Masato Kanda, vice minister of finance for international affairs, also said he would not comment on whether Tokyo intervened in the exchange-rate market.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand
As forecast, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept the cash rate at a 15-year high of 5.5%. The decision was in line with all 27 economists polled by Reuters. It also said that policy needs to remain restrictive to bring inflation to heel, but didn't go as far as suggesting further increases were on the cards. A statement not as hawkish as economists were expecting, which sent the Kiwi dollar down.
JOLTS
On Tuesday, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLT)s job openings unexpectedly rose for the first time in four months, to 9.61 million, higher than the 8.8 million expected. The survey showed an increase in demand for workers in the services sector. Job openings were up 690,000, the most in just over two years. Small businesses, with less than 10 employees, accounted for the bulk of the rise in job openings. Medium-sized businesses reported sizeable increases, but the rise for large corporations was modest.
ADP employment change
The market now awaits an Automatic Data Processing (ADP) employment change at 1.15 p.m. this afternoon. Job creations in the private sector are expected to reach 153,000 in September, slowing from 177,000 the previous month. Last month, most of these jobs 154,000 of them, were created in the service sector.
Tesco
On the equity market, Tesco raised its full-year forecast after posting a 13.5% increase in core profit in the first half. Topps Tiles sales rose 3.2% in the third quarter.
Crude oil inventories
On Tuesday, the Application Programming Interface (API) reported a 4.2-million-barrel fall in crude oil inventories. Analysts were expecting them to be broadly unchanged.Gasoline stocks rose by 3.9 million barrels and distillate by 350,000. On Wednesday, OPEC+ will update us on its production guidance. No change is expected; the organisation should keep supplies tight. Last month, Saudi Arabia and Russia decided to extend output cuts to the end of the year.
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients.
Start trading forex today
Trade the largest and most volatile financial market in the world.
- Spreads start at just 0.6 points on EUR/USD
- Analyse market movements with our essential selection of charts
- Speculate from a range of platforms, including on mobile
Live prices on most popular markets
- Forex
- Shares
- Indices
