JPY Pressured On BoJ Leadership Speculation, USD Firmer

JPY is pressured in Monday's Asian session. A report in Nikkei noted that BoJ Deputy Gov Amamiya is being approached to head up the central bank. Amamiya chose not to comment on the report this morning, while Finance Minister Suzuki said he hadn’t heard of such discussions, while conceding that he is “out of the loop” on those matters, noting that he won’t be commenting on each candidate for the role.

• USD/JPY is ~0.7% higher, last dealing ¥132.10/20, the pair has traded through the bull trigger at ¥131.58 the 50-day EMA at 133.03 is the next upside target.
• The bid in USD/JPY has spilled over into wider USD strength.
• AUD/USD is ~0.1% softer, last printing $0.6915/20. Q4 retail sales fell 0.2%, the estimate was -0.5%. Jan Melbourne Institute Inflation was on the wires, YoY print was 6.4% and MoM was 0.9%. This is the highest reading on record for the gauge. The RBA Monetary Policy Decision is due tomorrow.
• NZD/USD is also pressured; down ~0.2% last printing $0.6315/20. Local markets are closed observing a national holiday.
• EUR/USD and GBP/USD are both ~0.1% softer.
• Cross asset flows are showing a risk off tone. E-minis are down ~0.3%, 10 Year US Treasury Yields are ~4bps higher. BBDXY is ~0.2% firmer.
• There is a thin data calendar for the remainder of the Asian session. Further out Eurozone Retail Sales headlines an otherwise limited docket.