JPY is clinging sheepishly to the 101 level versus the USD almost as if there is an 'agreement'. It has been testing this level for a week now with many viewing the 100 line in the sand as a pass/fail mark for Abenomics. Tonight's heavy data flow is mixed. While we noted yesterday the inconsistencies in Abenomics, there are two interesting anecdotes this evening worth paying attention to. First, Household spending missed expectations by the largest amount in 18 months (not a good sign for real growth coming back); and second, in a brief moment on CNBC this afternoon, the CEO of Japan's mega corp Sony admitted that while, "the preconception is that a weaker Yen is good overall. Unfortunately for us, versus the USD, it goes the other way." Futures markets signal a green open (just like last night) for the equity markets and a slight red open for JGBs.
USDJPY hovering at 101 for a week...
[8]
Japan's PMI beat expectations as did Industrial Production though the latter remains -2.3% YoY.
Japan All Households Spending YoY missed expectations of +3.0% coming in at +1.5% (from an exciting +5.2% last months)...
[9]
Forward to 09:15 in the following clip to hear the CEO of Sony lay down some truthiness on Maria B about the weaker JPY...