Japanese Yen Sees Risks Ahead of G20 Meeting

This week has been a relatively choppy one for the risk-tied Japanese yen. The USDJPY closed the Friday session out lower against the benchmark dollar as market participants looked ahead to this weekend’s G20 meeting and the following week’s low-liquidity. First things first, the members of the G20 will meet near Cape Town to its usual fair. However, not everything will be routine. In recent days, a number of monetary officials across the world’s major economies have begun to speak up on currency concerns. Just today, the usually mum BoE Governor King joined US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in calling for a stronger yuan. Elsewhere, BoJ Governor Fukui suggested he was uncomfortable with the yen’s recent, rapid appreciation. Clearly, there will be a push to bring problems over the exchange to the table. From the economic calendar, only the final reading of the September Leading Economic Index was on tap. The Leading figure held at its decade low.