Japanese Yen Advances On China Worries

The Japanese yen climbed against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday, as concerns over the debt crisis at China Evergrande Group and Beijing's latest push to rein in private industries dampened risk sentiment.

As investors bet on an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations has warned about deepening inequities between advanced and developing nations.

The progress of U.S. President Joe Biden's economic agenda also remains in focus after the House of Representative's Ways and Means Committee approved the biggest tax hikes in a generation on Wednesday.

The committee approved $2.1 trillion in new levies that mostly focused on corporations and the wealthy.

Data from the Ministry of Finance showed that Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 635.4 billion yen in August.

That was well shy of expectations for a shortfall of 47.7 billion yen following the downwardly revised 439.4 billion yen surplus in July (originally 441 billion yen).

The yen edged up to 109.21 against the greenback and 151.00 against the pound, off its early low of 109.46 and a 2-day low of 151.58, respectively. If the yen continues its rise, 106.00 and 149.00 are possibly seen as its next resistance levels against the greenback and the pound, respectively.

The yen approached near a 5-month high of 118.63 against the franc and a fresh 3-week high of 128.92 against the euro, up from its prior lows of 118.97 and 129.36, respectively. The yen is poised to target resistance around 114.00 against the franc and 126.00 against the euro.

Reversing from its early 2-day lows of 86.74 against the loonie, 80.37 against the aussie and 78.06 against the kiwi, the yen rose to 86.37, 79.90 and 77.60, respectively. The yen is seen finding resistance around 85 against the loonie, 78.00 against the aussie and 75.00 against the kiwi.

Looking ahead, Eurozone trade data for July is due in the European session.

Canada housing starts for August will be released at 8:15 am ET.

Canada wholesale sales for July, U.S. retail sales for August, business inventories data for July and weekly jobless claims for the week ended September 11 will be featured in the New York session.