• USD/JPY appreciates 0.5% on Friday to test one-year highs at 157.75.
• The Yen is dropping across the board, despite upbeat Japanese consumption and growth figures.
• The US Dollar appreciates with Nonfarm Payrolls and tariffs ruling in focus.

The Japanese Yen depreciated across the board on Friday. Concerns about the geopolitical rift with China and doubts about the timing of the next rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) have boosted the USD/JPY more than 0.5% higher on the day to test its highest levels in the last 12 months, at 157.75.

The Greenback is trading firm, with risk appetite subdued. Investors are holding their breath, awaiting the US Supreme Court decision on the legality of US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs, with corporate lawyers preparing reimbursement claims for $150 billion in case the jury rules against them.

Apart from that, December’s US Nonfarm Payrolls will show the first complete employment report after the largest US government shutdown in history. Job creation is expected to have been moderate, although unemployment is seen ticking down. The data, however, is not expected to clear up doubts about the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate-cut calendar.

Data from Japan revealed that Household Spending bounced up unexpectedly in November, pointing to a significant recovery in consumption, and the Leading Economic Index improved to its best reading in the last 18 months. The data, however, failed to stop the Japanese Yen’s bleeding.