Safe-haven currencies, such as the USD and JPY, gained the upper hand as the market shifted back to risk aversion mode. Despite the lack of economic reports from Japan yesterday, the USD/JPY sank to the 95.00 mark as the USD faces threats of diversification in the
G8 summit.
Core machinery orders were just reported to have slumped by 3% in June. Analysts expected this indicator to post an improvement of 2.3% after sinking by 5.4% in May. Japan's
current account surplus widened marginally from 0.97 trillion to 1.02 trillion, as the global downturn eroded demand for its exports.
Later on today, the Economy Watchers Sentiment index will be released. The reading is expected to climb from 36.7 to 38.1 on hopes for a sustained economic recovery for the Asian nation. The actual figure is due at 6:00pm GMT.