USD/JPY towards 154.00 after a mixed bag of Japanese data releases

The case appears to be building for the Bank of Japan to remain on hold at its meeting next week:

• BOJ reportedly sees little cost to waiting for next rate hike
• BOJ reportedly erring towards keeping interest rates unchanged next week (The leaks keep on coming)

• Goldman Sachs expect the Bank of Japan to remain on hold at 0.25% at the December meeting

The data releases today don’t shed much light, they’ve been all over the place, good and not so good (manufacturing PMI still languishing but better):

• Japan preliminary December Manufacturing PMI 49.5 (prior 49.0) Services 51.4 (prior 50.5)
• Japan Machinery orders for October 2024: +2.1% m/m (expected +1.2%)

The yen has softened, towards (but not quite to) 154.00:

The USD is a touch weaker elsewhere.

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This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.