The Japanese yen rose against the U.S. dollar on Monday in Asia as traders seek safe-haven amid tensions between Washington and Beijing, while escalated protests in Hong Kong also dampened investor sentiment.

Sino-U.S. trade tensions returned to focus after U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced late last week an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports that will kick in on Sept 1.

The USD/JPY pair was down 0.5% to 106.02 by 12:09 AM ET (04:09 GMT).

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was down to seven-month lows against the safe haven yen after data showing that U.S. jobs growth slowed in July, underlining the case for the Fed to cut rates again in September.

The USD/CNY pair gained 1.3% to 7.0225 as Beijing is reportedly allowing the Chinese currency to depreciate to counter Trump’s tariff threat, according to Bloomberg.

Source : Investing.com