Japanese Data On The Radar

Greenback weakness translated into USD/JPY sales Monday, albeit the pair remained within the confines of the prior day's range. It now sits at Y115.07, almost unchanged on the day, with bears looking for sales past Feb 2 low of Y114.16. A break below that level would open up Y113.47, which limited losses on Jan 24. On the flip side, a rebound above Feb 4 high of Y115.43 would turn focus to the 76.4% retracement of the Jan 4 - 24 downleg/Jan 28 high at Y115.67/68.

• The U.S. and Japan have struck an agreement on removing Trump-era steel tariffs, as had been suggested by earlier press reports. The deal will take effect in April.
• Japan's cash earnings unexpectedly fell 0.2% Y/Y in December, missing consensus estimate of +0.8%. Meanwhile, household spending shrank 0.2% Y/Y, despite expectations that its annual decline may have ground to a halt.
• Focus turns to Japan's BoP current account balance & Eco Watchers Survey (today), flash machine tool orders (Wednesday) & PPI (Thursday).