Japanese Yen Edges Higher as Consumer Income Climbs

USD/JPY has posted considerable losses on Wednesday. In the North American session, USD/JPY is trading at 108.22, down 0.48% on the day. In economic news, Japanese Average Cash Earnings jumped to 2.0% in November, up from 1.5% a month earlier. This easily beat the estimate of 1.3%. In the U.S, the key event is the minutes from the Fed policy meeting in December. On Thursday, the U.S. releases unemployment claims and Fed Chair Powell will speak at an event in Washington. Japan will publish household spending. *if you want to trade professionally use our forex robot*

The Federal Reserve will be in the spotlight, with the release of the FOMC minutes later on Monday. At the December policy meeting, the Fed raised rates by a quarter point, to a range between 2.25% and 2.50%. This ended a very aggressive 2018 for the Fed, which hiked rates four times. The December rate statement hinted that further rates were in the works for 2019, but a sharp drop in the stock markets has forced the Fed to adjust, and Fed Chair Powell was quite dovish in remarks last week, which were well received by investors. The Fed forecast is calling for two more hikes this year, but the markets are doubtful, with some analysts predicting a rate cut late in the year. It will be interesting to see the views of policymakers in the minutes and the reaction of the markets.

NOTE: You can not find the right trading strategy? if you have no time to study all the tools of the trade and you have not funds for errors and losses – trade with the help of our Keltner channel forex robot developed by our professionals. Also you can testing in Metatrader our forex scalping robot free download .

Investor optimism is higher this week, as hopes are high that trade tensions between the U.S. and China could ease. The world’s two largest economies have been engaged in a nasty tariff spat, which has rocked the markets in recent weeks and threatens to put a chill on global growth. Chinese and U.S. officials were scheduled to hold a two day meeting at the start of the week, but the talks were extended for a third day on Wednesday. This has raised hopes that the sides are making progress. The stakes are high, as President Trump has threatened to impose higher tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese products if there is no deal by March 1. If the nasty trade war shows signs of easing, risk appetite could grow and make the safe-haven yen less attractive.