Japanese Elections Set To Push USDJPY Higher
Bitcoin Stabilizes Over $5,600
Dollar Skyrockets To New Highs
This week in a nutshell: Sterling Plummets On EU Brexit Comments
The sterling took another dive on Tuesday, after some dovish comments by BoE Governor Carney and as European Union officials continued to express frustration with the U.K. on Brexit negotiations, saying the lack of consensus within the British government makes it hard to know what the latter wants.*
Thu, October 19: In Today’s Markets…
1. Japanese Elections Set To Push USDJPY Higher
A few weeks ago, Japanese Prime Minister Abe called for snap elections on October 22. Shinzo Abe, the father of Abenomics, aimed to achieve renewal of economic growth after years of stagnation by keeping key interest rates at a record low. It should be noted that the recent threat of North Korean missiles, boosted Abe’s ratings in the polls as 44% of voters stated that they would back the LDP in a general election while only 8% said they would vote for the main opposition Democratic Party. Abenomics has been keeping a lid on the Yen but what would an Abe victory mean for the Japanese currency? Abe’s election back in 2014 caused the Yen to fall sharply. Markets expect that Abe’s new victory would cause the Yen to plummet even further against its U.S. counterpart and therefore cause the USDJPY pair to climb to new highs.**
2. Bitcoin Stabilizes Over $5,600
Bitcoin prices (BTCUSD) surged to stabilise above the $5,600 margin this morning after Japan’s Financial Services Agency announced that they would allow Bitcoin to be used to pay for goods and services in the country. This initiative came as part of an effort to foster a growing Fintech industry which currently lacks serious investment especially in comparison to Japan’s traditional manufacturing industry.**
3. Dollar Skyrockets To New Highs
The dollar hit its highest price in about two weeks against the yen this morning, bolstered by this week’s rise in U.S. bond yields and as the markets turn their attention to this weekend’s Japanese election. Specifically, the USD/JPY was last seen trading at 113.1JPY as of 6:37 GMT. In other news, European markets started the day mixed this morning, ahead of an EU Summit in Brussels. Brexit will likely be the key topic up for discussion in the Brussels summit while the sterling is expected to dip lower against the euro since the E.U. is likely to remain dissatisfied with U.K.’s unclear Brexit stance.***
You can find and trade all of the above mentioned equities and commodities on BDSwiss Forex/CFD platforms.
*Source: Reuters
**Source: Investing.com
***Source: CNBC
