Forex Today: Japanese Yen slides on BoJ inaction, US housing and Canada CPI data coming up

Here is what you need to know on Tuesday, December 19:

Following the last meeting of the year, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced early Tuesday that it left the policy settings unchanged. Later in the session, Eurostat will release revisions to the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the Euro area. In the second half of the day, the US economic docket will feature Building Permits and Housing Starts readings for November. Finally, Statistics Canada will publish inflation figures.

The Japanese central bank held the interest rate and the 10-year Japanese Government Bond yield target steady at -0.1% bps and 0%, respectively. In the policy statement, the BoJ said that the economy is likely to continue to recover at a modest pace and added that the underlying Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is expected to increase gradually toward the price stability target. 

In the post-meeting press conference, BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated that they won't hesitate to take additional easing measures if necessary. "We are still not in a situation to foresee sustainable, stable inflation with sufficient confidence," Ueade added. The Japanese Yen came under bearish pressure following the BoJ event. At the time of press, USD/JPY was up more than 0.5% on the day above 143.50 and EUR/JPY was gaining 0.6% near 157.00.

The US Dollar (USD) Index failed to stage a convincing rebound on Monday as Wall Street's main indexes stretched higher after the opening bell. At the time of press, the USD Index was flat on the day near 102.50 and US stock index futures  were trading mixed. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield remains below 4% after Monday's short-lasting recovery attempt.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released the Minutes of the December policy meeting in the Asian session on Tuesday. The publication revealed that policymakers saw encouraging signs of progress on inflation. "Whether further tightening is required would be decided by data and the assessment of risks," the RBA said. AUD/USD showed no immediate reaction and was last seen trading virtually unchanged on the day slightly above 0.6700.

The data from New Zealand showed that the ANZ Business Confidence Index improved to 33.2 in December from 30.8 in November. After closing higher on Monday, NZD/USD stabilized in positive territory above 0.6200 early Tuesday.

EUR/USD registered small gains on Monday but failed to gather directional momentum. In the European morning on Tuesday, the pair continues to fluctuate in a tight channel above 1.0900. Eurostat is expected to confirm annual HICP inflation at 2.4% in November.

GBP/USD continued to edge lower on Monday following Friday's sharp decline and closed the day in the red. The pair seems to have gone into a consolidation phase at around 1.2650 early Tuesday. The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) will release Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for November on Wednesday.

Gold struggled to make a decisive move in either direction to start the week and moved up and down in a narrow band above $2,020 on Monday. Early Tuesday, XAU/USD holds steady within Monday's trading range.