Yen gains in Asia; USD/JPY eyes ¥108.50

• Yen gains strength in Asia session, continues run against US Dollar.

• BoJ Summary of Opinions to come late Tuesday, 11:50 pm GMT.

The Japanese Yen is trading up against its major counterparts in the Asia session, with USD/JPY falling below the session bottom of ¥108.78 established earlier in the day; EUR/JPY and GBP/JPY have followed suit, with GBP/JPY breaking below the previous day's low of ¥152.82 ahead of the London market session.

The Yen, buffered by better-than-forecast retail trade data for Japan, continues its bullish push as traders see economic growth as a precursor to the Bank of Japan beginning to wind down their asset purchasing programs, despite reminders from BoJ Governor Kuroda that inflation still remains below the central bank's target levels. Inflation growth has plagued Japan for decades, and the BoJ is recalcitrant to begin winding down their QQE program before the Japanese economy begins to show signs of acheiving a desireable level of inflation growth. The Bank of Japan releases their Summary of Opinions at 11:50 pm GMT Tuesday, where the BoJ is expected to reiterate their 'cautiously optimistic' outlook on economic growth, and remind markets of the slowdown they anticipate in the Japanese economy for the first half of 2018.