The Japanese yen has posted gains in the Monday session. In North American trade, USD/JPY is trading at 110.94, down 0.53% on the day. On the release front, SPPI edged lower to 0.8%, just shy of the estimate of 0.9%. In the US, the sole indicator is New Home Sales, which is expected to slow to 627 thousand. On Tuesday, the US releases CB Consumer Confidence, with an estimate of 123.9 points. We’ll also hear from Fed Chair Designate Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The changing of the guard at the Federal Reserve starts this week, as Jerome Powell testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday for his confirmation hearing. Will Powell be a clone of outgoing chair Janet Yellen? Powell inherits an economy that is in excellent shape, but persistently low inflation remains a nagging problem. Fed policymakers have differing views on what to do about inflation, with some members proposing that the Fed drop its 2 percent target, in favor of a "gradually rising path" for prices. The Fed remains confounded by low inflation and wage growth, despite a labor market that is at full capacity. Still, the Fed will likely pull the rate trigger next month, and could raise rates up to 3 more times in 2018 if the economy continues to expand at its current pace.
The Bank of Japan has declared more than once that it will hold the course on its massive easing program, even though the Japanese economy has rebounded in 2017, in large part due to stronger global demand for Japanese products. Recently, however, there have been some slight hints that the Bank of Japan might be having second thoughts. BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda recently acknowledged that ongoing easing could hurt bank margins. Kuroda said that BoJ needed to pay attention to the "reversal rate", whereby a rate cut by the central bank discourages bank lending. Still, most economists don’t expect a cutting of stimulus until in the near future, so any hints of a change in the status quo would likely shake up the Japanese yen.
