Ella 
The Australian dollar strengthened against the yen after the Reserve Bank of Australia released meeting minutes, with AUD/JPY rising for the sixth consecutive day. In Asia on Wednesday, the Australian dollar/yen rose to around 98.40.
The Aussie dollar may face headwinds amid weakness in Australian financial markets as the S&P/ASX 200 index fell for a second straight day, mirroring Wall Street’s losses overnight. The decline was mainly related to the lackluster performance of mining stocks and metal prices.
In addition, the fourth quarter wage price index data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics was mixed and had little impact on the Australian dollar (AUD).
On the other hand, better-than-expected trade balance data released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance may provide support for the yen, thereby preventing the AUD/JPY from rising. Japan’s merchandise trade balance in January totaled -1,758.3 billion yen, compared with the expected -1,925.9 billion yen, and the previous value of 68.9 billion yen.
In addition, Japan’s imports fell at an annual rate of 9.6%, higher than the expected -8.4% and the previous value of -6.9%. However, exports surged at an annual rate of 11.9%, beating expectations of 9.5% and the previous reading of 9.7%.
On Tuesday, Finance Ministry official Atsushi Mimura said the Japanese government was discussing foreign exchange intervention with other countries. This stance may provide some support for the yen.
