The Japanese yen fell in the Asian market on Friday against a basket of global currencies, continuing its losses for the third day in a row against the US dollar by less than 0.1% after it fell by 2% yesterday, Thursday, making it face its fourth weekly loss in a row.

The decline in the yen came due to the continued rise in the yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds, in addition to a succession of weak economic data in Japan, which indicates the continued suffering of the third largest economy in the world from recession, reducing the chances of the Central Bank of Japan exiting the current interest rate policy.

Note that the Purchasing Managers' Index for the industrial sector in Japan recorded a preliminary reading of about 47.2 points in February, a reading worse than market expectations of 48.2 points, indicating that the third largest economy in the world still needs the continuation of very easy monetary policy stimulus tools. For the longest period this year, which reduces the possibility of the Bank of Japan exiting the range of negative interest rates early this year.

The yen is trading below the 150 barrier for every dollar, despite the warning of the Japanese Finance Minister about monitoring the movements of the local currency in the foreign exchange market with great urgency, in the latest verbal interventions in Japan to support the currency against excessive weakness.

The yield on US Treasury bonds for ten years rose on Thursday, by 0.2 percentage points, near the highest level in three months at 4.354%, which enhances investment opportunities in the US dollar for ten years due to successive data. The strong economy in the United States and comments from the Federal Reserve reduce the chances of an early US rate cut.
Note that the rise in US bond yields puts negative pressure on the exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the US dollar, as the gap between long-term bond yields between Japan and the United States widens.

*All data provided is intended for educational or informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.