The EUR/JPY currency pair settled below recent 1-week high of 163.352 following the latest European and Japanese macro data.
The Japanese Yen firmed, while pushing the EUR/JPY pair lower, after the release of the latest Tokyo inflation data.
March figures indicated a 2.4% rise in the city’s core consumer price index, which does not include volatile fresh food costs, surpassing February’s 2.2%.
The broader Tokyo CPI for March showed a 2.9% year-on-year increase, up from 2.8% in February, further signaling inflationary pressures within the Japanese economy.
The core CPI that omits fresh food and energy prices prone to fluctuations rose to 2.2%, exceeding the previous month’s 1.9%.
The increase also surpassed the Bank of Japan’s annual 2% target. Policy makers are prepared to raise rates if economic and price forecasts are met, according to the BoJ’s Summary of Opinions.
Yet, the Summary also highlighted growing concerns regarding potential downside risks stemming from the Trump administration’s tariff policies. These trade tensions have introduced a layer of uncertainty, prompting the Bank of Japan to adopt a cautious approach in its near-term policy decisions.
Meanwhile, the Euro was additionally pressured on Friday after CPI inflation in France and Spain came in below market estimates in March, which prompted investors to boost their bets on more rate cuts by the European Central Bank.
Markets are now pricing in about 60 basis points of ECB rate cuts by year-end, compared to 56 bps previously.
Also, there is now a 90% probability of a rate cut occurring at the central bank’s next policy meeting.
Additionally, Germany’s labor market showed more signs of weakness in March, as the number of unemployed persons went up by 26,000 to 2.922 million, or far above the expected 10,000 increase.
Apart from macro data, market players now awaited the upcoming April 2nd date on which US President Trump is expected to lay out reciprocal tariffs on America’s key trading partners.
The EUR/JPY currency pair settled 0.58% lower at 162.192 on Friday.
The minor Forex pair gained 0.47% for the week.
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