Japan inflation: National CPI comes in at 2.8% YoY in November vs. 3.3% prior
Japan’s National Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November came in at 2.8% YoY from 3.3% in October, according to the latest data released by the Japan Statistics Bureau on Friday,
Further details unveil that the National CPI ex Fresh Food arrived at 2.5% YoY in November versus 2.9% prior.
Market reaction
Following the Japan inflation data, the USD/JPY pair is down 0.05% on the day at 142.15
About Japan’s National CPI
The National Consumer Price Index is released by the Statistics Bureau and it’s a measure of price movements obtained by comparison of the retail prices of a representative shopping basket of goods and services. CPI is the most significant way to measure changes in purchasing trends. The purchase power of JPY is dragged down by inflation. Generally a high reading is seen as positive for the JPY.
Japanese Yen FAQs
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the world’s most traded currencies. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the differential between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.
One of the Bank of Japan’s mandates is currency control, so its moves are key for the Yen. The BoJ has directly intervened in currency markets sometimes, generally to lower the value of the Yen, although it refrains from doing it often due to political concerns of its main trading partners. The current BoJ ultra-loose monetary policy, based on massive stimulus to the economy, has caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers. This process has exacerbated more recently due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks, which have opted to increase interest rates sharply to fight decades-high levels of inflation.
The BoJ’s stance of sticking to ultra-loose monetary policy has led to a widening policy divergence with other central banks, particularly with the US Federal Reserve. This supports a widening of the differential between the 10-year US and Japanese bonds, which favors the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen.
The Japanese Yen is often seen as a safe-haven investment. This means that in times of market stress, investors are more likely to put their money in the Japanese currency due to its supposed reliability and stability. Turbulent times are likely to strengthen the Yen’s value against other currencies seen as more risky to invest in.