Today is the Independence Day holiday in the United States, and both the bond market and stock market will be closed. There are no major scheduled economic indicators, creating a situation with limited clues. With the release of the US employment statistics approaching this weekend, the market is likely to be sluggish.
In the NY market yesterday, the US ISM Manufacturing PMI for June declined from 46.9 to 46.0, triggering a sell-off in the US dollar. However, the USDJPY pair found support around the 144 yen level and was subsequently bought back, pushing it back to the mid-144 yen range before the release. Today, trading has been relatively quiet, centered around the mid-144 yen level.
A notable movement in the Tokyo market was the decline in the Australian dollar. This was in response to the decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to keep the policy interest rate unchanged at 4.1%. Some market participants had anticipated a 0.25% interest rate hike, so there was disappointment selling. However, there were no significant reactions observed in major currencies such as the yen and the euro. The pressure for yen strength has been modest, influenced by the sluggish performance of the Nikkei Average.
Considering the lack of significant indicators today, it is expected that the market will predominantly exhibit a range-bound trend throughout the day.
