Jobless Rate Slips

There was little appetite for safe haven currencies Monday, which pushed USD/JPY higher in Asia-Pac hours. The rate pulled back later in the day, as the greenback went offered throughout the U.S. trading session, in tandem with upswings in Wall Street equity benchmarks.

• Japan's unemployment rate unexpectedly slipped to 2.7% in December from 2.8% prior, showing that the labour market kept recovering ahead of the Omicron outbreak, but USD/JPY has shown no reaction to the release. Final Jibun Bank M'fing data is due later in the day.
• Speaking in Tokyo this morning, FinMin Suzuki made assurances that the gov't will hear inputs from businesses and investors on the planned reform of quarterly disclosure requirements. He added that Japan's capital gains tax will be reviewed from various angles.
• USD/JPY trades at Y115.13 at typing, virtually unchanged on the day. Bears look for a clean break below Jan 18 peak at Y115.06, which would shift focus to Jan 14/24 lows of Y113.49/47. On the topside, a clearance of Jan 28 high of Y115.68 would bring Jan 4 high of Y116.35 into view.