Japan’s Preliminary GDP
Traders will watch Japan’s GDP figures at 02:50 MT time on May 18. Lots of moves are expected in the yen pairs as the preliminary release is the earliest one and thus it tends to have the greatest impact on the currency. In the fourth quarter, Japan’s economy grew at a steady pace, having posted 0.2% expansion in the October-December period and 1% annually. The yen climbed after the publication. The nation is struggling with continued deflation and weak domestic demand, so a strong GDP headline for the first quarter will once again offer a significant boost for the yen. If the reading turns out to be weak, the yen will depreciate against the US dollar and in other pairs.
