The yen strengthened

The yen strengthened despite the dovish statements by the Bank of Japan. During his speech today the head of the Central Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda said that there is still room for easing monetary policy, and that the negative interest rates introduced in January are starting to have a positive impact. In addition, signaled that the benefits of further policy easing exceed its costs.

The US dollar traded in a narrow range after the publication of US labor market data on Friday. Recall, the Ministry of Labor said that the number of people employed in non-farm payrolls rose by 151,000 after a gain to 275,000 in July. The unemployment rate remained at around 4.9%, as more people entered the labor market. Economists had forecast a rise in the number of employees by 180 000 and the reduction in unemployment to 4.8%. Lowering employment growth came after the economy created a total of 546,000 jobs in June and July. Given the fact that the labor market has almost reached full employment and economic recovery from the recession years of 2007-09, the slowdown in job growth seems normal.

The Australian dollar rose after the publication of positive data on the index of China's service sector business activity and growth in operating profits of Australian companies. The Index of purchasing managers Caixin, published by Markit Economics, which is a leading indicator of China's state sector services in August was 52.1 points higher than the previous value of 51.7 and analysts' expectations of 51.9. Published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics the measure of profit from operations of the companies, in the second quarter grew by 6.6%, after declining by -4.4% in the first quarter. Analysts had expected an increase of 2.0%. This indicator reflects the total amount of pre-tax profits derived from commercial activities, excluding the cost of interest payments on debt and the cost of adjustment.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $ 1.1180

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $ 1.3325

USD / JPY: it fell to Y103.25