Japanese economic growth likely to have declined in Q3 2018

Japanese economic growth is likely to have slowed down in the third quarter. In the prior quarter, the real GDP growth had recovered after back-to-back weak quarterly readings in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. Private consumption had rebounded in the quarter, expanding at a solid rate of 2.9 percent, and business investment had expanded at the most rapid rate since the first quarter of 2015.

However, even with the growth, the year-on-year real GDP growth in Japan is only 1.3 percent at present, down from the pace of 2 percent in the second half of 2017. According to the Bloomberg consensus, the Japanese economy is likely to have declined 0.9 percent in the third quarter.

“If realized, this would bring the year-over-year pace of economic growth down to about 0.5 percent, the lowest since Q1-2016. For the Bank of Japan, the fight against slow growth and low inflation looks set to continue for the foreseeable future”, noted Wells Fargo in a research report.

At 14:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Japanese Yen was neutral at 46.5252, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was slightly bullish at 51.0644. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex