The Japanese yen continued to decline steadily against the US dollar for the seventh consecutive day. Talks about further interest rates in the US are also putting pressure on risky assets, such as the European currency and the British pound.
Despite good figures for export growth in Japan, traders are in no hurry to buy the yen after statements made at the end of last week related to US trade duties.
According to the report of the Ministry of Finance of Japan, exports in April this year increased by 7.8% compared to the same period last year. It happened because of good demand from the US for cars. The data practically coincided with forecasts of economists, who expected export growth by 8%.
As noted in the report, exports of iron ore and steel from Japan to the US increased by 14%, and this is subject to a 25% duty, which was recently introduced.
The positive balance of Japan's trade balance in April was 626 billion yen against 797 billion yen. It is noteworthy that the positive balance of trade between Japan and the US in April rose by 4.7%, to 616 billion yen.
As I noted above, at the end of last week, the Japanese government announced the right to respond to US import duties in accordance with WTO rules. Let me remind you that in March of this year, the United States imposed import duties on steel at a rate of 25% for a number of countries, including Japan.
In the government, Japan reported that it had not yet decided whether to take retaliatory measures against the US on the basis of WTO rules, since for this it is necessary to reassess US measures and their influence on Japanese companies.
As for the technical picture of the pair USD / JPY, then the nearest targets for buyers are located in the region of 111.50 and 111.90, where a good profit taking and a temporary pause in the upward movement, which has been going on for quite some time, may occur. It is too early to talk about any downward correction. New customers will be noticeable in the support area of 110.60 and 110.05.
On Friday it also became known that the IMF began official negotiations with Argentina on the issue of financial support. Let me remind you that most recently the Argentine government appealed to the IMF for financial assistance due to the difficult situation that has developed in the country and is associated with a huge national debt.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that the IMF program will allow for a steady decline in public debt, and its main goal is strong and sustained economic growth.