JPY: GDP and current account surplus catches attention – BBH

By FXStreet Research Team at BBH, notes that there were two reports in Japan that caught investors’ attention.

Key Quotes

“First, Q4 15 GDP was revised to -1.1% at an annualized pace from -1.4%. We had anticipated further deterioration. Private investment and inventories were tweaked higher while consumption and public investment were adjusted lower.

Second, Japan reported a considerably smaller than expected current account surplus for January. The JPY520.8 bln surplus compares with JPY960.7 bln in December and expectations for JPY715 bln. The trade balance actually did not deteriorate as much as had been expected, falling to a JPY411.0 bln deficit rather than JPY530 bln the market anticipated.

The investment income surplus was less than expected. With the current account data, Japan reports portfolio flow details. The highlights include that China was a larger (~$17.4 bln) buyers of Japanese money market instruments, the most since 2005. Japanese investors were large sellers of UK gilts (the most since 2012) and US Treasuries (most in seven months) while buyers of French bonds (bonds since 2011).”
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Source:: FX Street