XE Market Analysis: North America – Aug 15, 2019

A revival in risk-off positioning saw the Yen more than recover losses seen earlier in the day, while S&P 500 went from showing a 0.7% gain to a 0.6% loss in overnight trading. Beijing’s vow to take “necessary countermeasures” rekindled investor anxiety, offsetting President Trump’s decision to delay the latest earmarked tariffs to December from September. USD-JPY, after hitting a peak at 106.78, dove back to the 105.80 area. This is classic price action for this pairing amid phases of flip-flopping risk-off and risk-back-on sentiment shifts.