The Japanese yen is steady in the Wednesday session. In North American trade, the pair is trading at 111.45, up 0.23% on the day. On the release front, Japanese consumer confidence edged lower to 43.3, just below the estimate of 43.4 points. In the U.S, Preliminary GDP jumped 4.2%, beating the estimate of 4.1%. Pending Home Sales disappointed with a reading of -0.7%, well off the estimate of 0.3%. Later in the day, Japan releases retail sales, which is expected to drop to 1.3%. On Thursday, the U.S publishes personal spending and unemployment claims. Japan will release Tokyo Core CPI.
The U.S economy continues to sparkle. Preliminary GDP for Q2 was revised upwards to 4.2%, edging above the estimate of 4.0%. This reading was above the initial GDP release of 4.1% back in July. Growth in the second quarter was much stronger than in Q1, which posted a gain of 2.2%. Will the strong data continue in the third quarter? Consumer spending has been strong early in the quarter, but housing data has disappointed, with recent key indicators missing expectations.
Japanese inflation numbers have been a mix this week. BoJ Core CPI, the Bank of Japan’s preferred inflation indicator, improved to 0.5%. Earlier in the week, National Core CPI remained pegged at 0.8%, shy of the estimate of 0.9%. The Services Producer Price Index edged lower to 1.1%, missing the estimate of 1.2%. Despite an ultra-accommodative monetary policy, inflation remains well below the BoJ target of just below 2 percent. Rather than reduce the inflation target, the Bank will likely postpone yet again the timeline for its 2% target to fiscal year 2020 or beyond. Massive quantitative and qualitative easing have failed to coax inflation higher, so policymakers may have to consider other means of fiscal easing in order to encourage more spending and push inflation higher. The markets will get another look at inflation on Thursday, with the release of Tokyo Core CPI. The indicator is expected to remain unchanged at 0.8%.
