Japan’s government maintains overall assessment, sees further weakness in parts of economy

The Japanese Cabinet Office announced Thursday that it maintained the monthly economic assessment the fourth straight month in August. However, the government offered a downbeat view on the economic outlook.

Key takeaways

Japan's government sees further weakness in parts of the economy.

Government maintains an economic assessment for August.

Upgrades view on corporate profits.

Downgrades view of imports.

Following the assessment, the country’s Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said there is a need to pay attention to the impact of rapid COVID-19 spread in Asia on the Japanese firms' supply chains.

He added that there is no change in goal to recover Japan’s GDP to pre-pandemic levels by end of 2021.

USD/JPY extends above 110.00

USD/JPY is holding near-daily highs of 110.15, thanks to the ongoing rebound in the US dollar across the board. Traders shrug off the sluggish performance in the US Treasury yields ahead of the Fed’s Jackson Hole Symposium.

The pair was last seen trading at 110.12, up 0.12% on the day, having hit a daily low of 109.93 earlier in the Asian session.