The Japanese yen wasn’t in such a good mood yesterday as it fell against most of its counterparts, except for the euro. It seems like the yen still hasn’t moved on from the brunt of weak economic figures released earlier this week.
Only the manufacturing PMI was released from Japan yesterday. The report showed that the industry continues to expand as the reading stayed above the 50.0 mark. Still, the March manufacturing PMI dipped to 52.4 from 52.5 in February, implying that the expansion was slower during the month.
Does this mean that weak Tankan figures are in the cards? The Tankan survey, which is due 11:50 pm GMT today, could show that manufacturing and non-manufacturing conditions remained weak for the first quarter of the year. Although the readings are expected to stay in the negative zone, both the manufacturing and services component of the survey are expected to show that business conditions are worsening at a slower pace this time around.
My buddy Forex Gump has an interesting blow-by-blow analysis concerning the possible results of the Tankan survey, saying that weaker than expected figures could push the USDJPY above the 93.00 handle. Keep an eye out for that!