Japanese Yen
The yen extended losses today against all the majors after Japan reported its first annual trade deficit in more than 30 years. The Ministry of Finance data showed the nation’s imports exceeded exports by 2.49 trillion yen in 2011 (around 32 billion dollars), as the value of exports dropped for a third consecutive month in December, by 8%. Pair USD/JPY rocketed yesterday from 76.95 to 77.84 and even touched a four-week high 78.00 in Asian trading hours today. The euro is gaining ground against the yen for a third consecutive day and has already strengthened to a four-week high as well at 101.65.
Australian Dollar
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported today the consumer prices were unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2011, after rising by 0.6% in the third quarter. As a result the annual growth pace of the measure declined to 3.1% from 3.5%. Nevertheless the aussie managed to recover its yesterday’s losses and climbed from 1.0445 to 1.0540 against the greenback this morning as the nation’s core inflation accelerated more than economists expected. The so-called trimmed mean, one of the central bank’s measures of underlying inflation, advanced by 0.6%, compared with estimations of a 0.5% gain.
British Pound
The Office for National Statistics reported today the UK economy stagnated in the fourth quarter more than economists initially estimated. The nation’s GDP dropped by 0.2% in the last three months of 2011, after a 0.6% gain in the third quarter. The data followed yesterday’s speech of the Bank of England Governor Mervyn King who said that the Bank may increase stimulus to support the economy, while the minutes of the latest policy meeting issued today also confirmed that more stimulus is “likely” according to some officials, as “inflation would continue to fall sharply in the coming months.” The pound fell from a three-week high versus the dollar (1.5630) toward 1.5530.
