Yen Range-Bound as Weaker US Data Meets Elevated Oil Prices
The yen has stabilized in the lower 159 range against the dollar in Tokyo foreign exchange trading on July 17th, as weak U.S. economic indicators are offset by elevated crude oil prices.
According to finance.biggo.com, the dollar-yen pair stood at 159.21-22 yen as of 9:00 a.m., virtually unchanged from 159.20-21 yen at 5:00 p.m. late last week.
The pair's movement was influenced by several factors, including weak U.S. retail sales and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, which came in at 51.0, both below market expectations.
Asset managers noted that 'expectations for early U.S. rate hikes have receded further, exerting downward pressure on the dollar-yen pair.'
The recent releases of July U.S. CPI and PPI data also pointed to moderating inflation, which is weighing on the yen.