USD/JPY surpasses 123.00 on weak Japan’s Retail Trade

• USD/JPY has attracted bids on downbeat Japan’s Retail Trade.
• The DXY has faced broader weakness amid positive market sentiment.
• BOJ’s unlimited bond-buying program may push the asset higher.

The USD/JPY pair has climbed sharply above 123.00 on downbeat Japan’s Retail Trade. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry have reported yearly Retail Trade at -0.8% higher than the previous figure of -1.1% but extremely lower than the market estimate of -0.3%.

The greenback has been underperforming against the Japanese yen in the last two trading sessions despite the ongoing 10-year benchmark Japanese Government Bonds (JGB)-purchase program by the Bank of Japan (BOJ). Usually, the bond-buying program by the central banks denotes their intention to keep the interest rates from rising. The BOJ is intended to restrict its interest rates from elevation bets. The four days bond-buying program of the BOJ will continue till Thursday.

Meanwhile, the BOJ has announced an emergency bond-buying operation and has offered to buy 150 billion Yen in 10-25 Year JGBs and 100 billion Yen in JGBs with maturity beyond 25 years.

On Tuesday, the market participants cheered the slightly higher Japan’s Unemployment Rate. The Statistics Bureau of Japan reported the Unemployment Rate at 2.7%, higher than the estimates and prior print of 2.8%.

The US dollar index (DXY) has lost its traction amid positive cues from the Russia-Ukraine peace talks. An announcement of a cut-off in Russian rebels in Ukraine has cheered the market sentiment. Risk-on impulse is gaining more traction and eventually the risk-sensitive assets.

Going forward, the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) will be the major event this week. But before that, investors will focus on the US ADP Employment Change and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Annualized, which are due on Wednesday.