Japan households' mood hits 5-year low - BOJ survey

The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) quarterly survey of about 4,000 households showed on Thursday, Japanese households’ confidence on the economy worsened to a five-year low in the three months to December, as cited by Reuters.

Key Findings:

A diffusion index measuring households’ confidence on the economy stood at minus 29.8 in December, the worst reading since the corresponding month of 2014.

32.9% of respondents cut back on spending after a sales tax hike rolled out in October.

Meanwhile, the bullish bias around the USD/JPY pair remains unabated, as it sees a fresh leg higher in early European trades. At the press time, the spot hits fresh eight-day highs at 109.32, trading above all major daily Simple Moving Averages (SMA).