Japan’s Q2 GDP surpassed forecasts, lifting the yen and Nikkei, while China’s July data revealed continued weakness across home prices, industrial output, retail sales, and investment.
Key moves
- Japan Q2 GDP rose 0.3% q/q (vs 0.1% forecast) and 1.0% annualised (vs 0.4% forecast); the yen firmed and the Nikkei advanced.
- China July data – new home prices fell both month‑over‑month and year‑over‑year; industrial output up 5.7% y/y (vs 5.9% forecast); retail sales up 3.7% y/y (vs 4.6% forecast); fixed‑asset investment +1.6% Jan–Jul (vs 2.7% forecast).
- Major FX moves were muted: GBP, CHF, EUR and CAD were all marginally higher against the USD.
- People’s Bank of China set the USD/CNY reference rate at 7.1371 (vs 7.1852 estimate).
Summary
The session underscored Japan’s robust growth and slowdown, with limited ripple effects on the main currency pairs.
(Source)
