Investing.com - The Japanese yen rose on Friday in Asia amid safe-haven demand, while the Mexican Peso slumped amid news of unexpected tariffs imposed on Mexican goods.
The USD/MXN pair was up 2.2% to 19.5583 by 12:50 AM ET (04:20 GMT).
The Mexican peso is now near three-month lows against the dollar after U.S. President Donald Trump unexpected said the U.S. will slap a 5% tariff on all goods coming from Mexico. The tariff will kick in from June 10 and will last until illegal immigration is stopped, Trump said.
The USD/CNY pair rose 0.1% to 6.9083 after data showed China’s official manufacturing PMI for the month of May fell to 49.4 from 50.1 in April. Analysts previously expected the figure to drop to 49.9 in May.
A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
The non-manufacturing PMI for May was 54.3, in line with expectations and unchanged from April.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen received some safe-haven bids today following reports that China has halted purchases of American soybeans amid disagreements over trade.
Former governor of the People’s Bank of China Dai Xianglong’s comments that said he expected no major trade breakthrough when Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump next month at the G-20 meeting also dented investors sentiment and boosted the safe-haven yen.
The rise in the yen also came amidst a slew of data releases.
Government data showed the country’s industrial output rose 0.6% from the previous month, compared with a 0.2% increase expected by analysts.
Separate data also showed the country’s jobless rate fell to 2.4% in April, in line with expectations.
Retail sales rose 0.5% in April from a year earlier, compared with the expected 0.8% increase.
The U.S. dollar, which is also considered as a safe-haven currency, remained little changed at 98.045.