AUD/JPY bears sink in their teeth

• AUD/JPY bears move in as the Aussie drops following wages miss.
• The yen is picking up a safe haven bid again.

At 90.61, AUD/JPY is down on the day so far by some 0.3% following a drop from 91.16, suffering from a weaker than expected wages report from Australia and ongoing angst over global growth.  

Aussie wages

• Australia Q1 wage price index +0.7 pct QoQ, s/adj (Reuters poll +0.8 pct).
• Australia Q1 wage price index +2.4 pct YoY, s/adj (Reuters poll +2.5 pct).

There was a delayed reaction to the data with the Aussie only dropping some 15 minutes after the release as the market digested the prospects of a less hawkish central bank. The data was accompanied by poor housing data from China which could also be weighing on the Aussie. China's April house prices arrived at -0.2% MoM and +0.7% YoY, down from March.

Overall, the yen has benefitted from risk-off markets over the month and the Aussie from a softer US dollar this week as some risk appetite returned to markets. 

Despite a mile recovery in stocks, there were nervy signs elsewhere as economic growth fears in the world's two largest economies have re-emerged following weak Retail Sales and factory production figures in China and disappointing US manufacturing data which can continue to benefit the yen for its safe-haven qualities.