THE TAKEAWAY: Japan’s machine orders for December came in above expectations > Potential sign of strengthening Japanese economy>Yen Bullish
Japanese machine orders in December increased by 2.8% (MoM) versus estimates of -0.8%. Meanwhile YoY growth showed contraction at -3.4%, but beat expectations of -3.9%. The Yen began the day positive and continued its upward momentum following the economic report.
While it will take much more than one positive economic report to get investors back on the side of the Japanese currency, growth in machine orders should not hurt. If positive economic data continues to come out of Japan, the currency may face upward pressure as investor’s begin questioning the length of Prime Minister’s aggressive monetary policy. As of this report the USD/JPY was trading at 93.393.
USD/JPY (120 Day Chart)
(Created Using FXCM’s Marketscope 2.0 charts)
