The Japanese Yen (JPY) is down against its major currency peers on Monday, trading 0.6% lower at around 158.80 against the US Dollar (USD) at the time of writing during the European trading session.
The Japanese currency faces selling pressure as the nation’s current account surprisingly turns to a deficit in June
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) reported that the net flow from goods, services, and interest payments into and out of Japan was in deficit at JPY 92.3 billion, while the data was expected to remain in surplus at JPY 1,512 billion. In May, the current account surplus was at JPY 3,968.3 billion. The MoF reported that higher crude Oil prices and significant dividend payouts to foreign investors led to a significant jump in total outflows.
On the monetary policy front, the Summary of Opinions (SoP) of the July policy meeting released earlier in the day showed that the majority of officials continue to support a tightening bias. One member also favored to quicken the tightening process than markets currently expect amid rising upside risks to prices. On the US Dollar front, investors await the United States (US) Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for July, which will be released on Wednesday, to get fresh cues regarding the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy meeting.