The Japanese yen rose in Asian markets on Thursday against a basket of major and minor currencies, resuming gains that had stalled the previous day against the US dollar, following data showing rising wages in the world's fourth-largest economy.
These data indicate growing inflationary pressures on monetary policymakers at the Bank of Japan, increasing the likelihood that the bank will raise interest rates during its final meeting of the year in December.
Price overview
Today's Japanese Yen exchange rate: The dollar fell against the yen by 0.2% to (153.79¥), from today's opening price of (154.11¥), and recorded a high of (154.14¥).
The yen ended Wednesday's trading down 0.3% against the dollar, after rising 0.35% the previous day as part of a recovery from an eight-month low of 154.48 yen.
Japanese wages
Japan's Ministry of Labor said on Thursday that total monthly cash earnings and a separate set of full-time wage figures rose 1.9% year-on-year in September, in line with market expectations of a 1.9% increase. Wages rose 1.3% in August.
The recovery in wages in Japan could pave the way for further price increases and a faster pace of inflation in the coming period. Undoubtedly, growing inflationary pressures on monetary policymakers at the Bank of Japan increase the likelihood of a Japanese interest rate hike.
Japanese interest rate
Following the above data, the pricing of the probability of the Bank of Japan raising interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point at its December meeting rose from 58% to 65%.
In order to reprice those probabilities, investors are awaiting further data on inflation, unemployment and wage levels in Japan, in addition to monitoring comments from some members of the Bank of Japan.
