After positive Japan Retail Trade statistics, the USD/JPY currency pair declines toward 138.50

The US dollar fell against the Japanese yen by less than 0.1 percent to 138.50 after upbeat economic data was released. Retail sales in Japan rose by 2.4% last year, beating both analysts' estimates of 1.9% growth and the prior report of 1.5% growth. Furthermore, retail sales have climbed to 0.8% on a monthly basis. Meanwhile, the report on Industrial Production is 1.8% higher than expected and 2.6% higher than the previous release.

Because the US dollar index (DXY) has done so well, bulls have been able to keep a firm grip on the asset. The DXY is aiming for a return to its two-decade high of 109.29 after encouraging data on consumer confidence and hawkish remarks from Fed governors.

When compared to July's 95.3 score, August's 103.2 reading on the Conference Board's (CB) Consumer Confidence survey is a significant gain. Improved faith in the economy boosts retail spending, which in turn supports the domestic currency. The DXY was also helped along by John Williams, president of the New York Fed Bank.

Fed Williams believes that interest rates will need to increase by more than 3.5 percent by the end of the year in order to slow the rate of inflation. He predicted that by the next year, inflation might drop to between 2.5% and 3%.

The release of US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data on Friday remains the focal point of investors' attention this week. It is expected that employment growth numbers would remain satisfactory notwithstanding a halt in recruiting by a number of tech companies and the effects of dwindling liquidity. Reduced from 528k in the prior publication, the anticipated economic data is 300k.