S&P 500 — US Large Cap Index
FTSE 100 — UK Blue Chips
Euro Stoxx 50 — Eurozone Leaders
DAX 40 — German Equities
CAC 40 — French Market Index
Nikkei 225 — Japan Benchmark
Hang Seng — Hong Kong Index
Shanghai Composite — China Mainland
ASX 200 — Australian Market
TSX Composite — Canada Index
Nifty 50 — India Large Cap
STI Index — Singapore Market
KOSPI — South Korea Index
Bovespa — Brazil Equities
JSE Top 40 — South Africa Index
IPC Index — Mexico MarketDeutsche Bank analysts note the Japanese Yen (JPY) has strengthened modestly against the US Dollar (USD) as officials flag speculative FX activity and warn that decisive action may soon be necessary. The Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) Summary of Opinions contained hawkish elements, including discussion of potentially accelerating rate hikes if Middle East tensions persist, supporting a less negative stance on the Yen.
Stronger JPY on hawkish BoJ signals
“Away from the Middle East, we’ve also seen the Japanese yen strengthen overnight, moving up +0.34% against the US Dollar to 159.76.”
“That comes after Japan’s top currency official, Atsushi Mimura, said that they were hearing about speculative activity picking up in FX markets, and that if it continued, “we believe decisive action may soon be necessary.””
“In addition, the Bank of Japan’s Summary of Opinions from their recent meeting had hawkish elements.”
“For example, there was even a comment they should “pay attention to whether it is necessary to accelerate the pace of policy interest rate hikes beyond previous projections and shift toward neutral or restrictive financial conditions, if tension over the situation in the Middle East were to become prolonged.””
