The Japanese yen rose against the U.S. dollar on Monday in Asia as traders seek safe-haven amid tensions between Washington and Beijing, while escalated protests in Hong Kong also dampened investor sentiment.
Sino-U.S. trade tensions returned to focus after U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced late last week an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports that will kick in on Sept 1.
Officials are set to hold the next round of trade talks next month in Washington, after the latest round of negotiations ended without any visible progress.
The USD/JPY pair was down 0.5% to 106.02 by 12:09 AM ET (04:09 GMT).
The Japanese yen benefited from falling Asian markets today. Political unrest in Hong Kong was cited as the catalyst for the selling.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief executive, said protests that began in early June has put the city in a "very dangerous situation."
The press conference came after a weekend of intense stand-off between the police forces and protestors in multiple districts in the city, which resulted in tear gases and arrests.
In June, an estimated one million of citizens marched on the streets of the city against the now-abandoned extradition law. Protestors demanded a complete withdrawal of the bill and an inquiry into police actions over the handling of demonstrations, which Lam has refused to do so so far.
Japan is due to release its preliminary GDP data on Friday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was down to seven-month lows against the safe haven yen after data showing that U.S. jobs growth slowed in July, underlining the case for the Fed to cut rates again in September.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 164,000 jobs in July, less than the month prior, and wages increased modestly, the Labor Department said.
The U.S. dollar index last traded at 97.715, down 0.1%.
The AUD/USD pair and the NZD/USD pair were both down 0.2%.
The USD/CNY pair gained 1.3% to 7.0225 as Beijing is reportedly allowing the Chinese currency to depreciate to counter Trump’s tariff threat, according to Bloomberg.
Data on China’s trade balance will be out on Wednesday, while consumer price inflation will be released on Friday.
