Forex Today: Japanese Yen slides, Gold climbs above $3,900
Here is what you need to know on Monday, October 6:
The Japanese Yen (JPY) starts the week under strong selling pressure and Gold trades at a new record high above $3,900. The European economic calendar will feature Sentix Investor Confidence data for September and Retail Sales figures for August. Later in the day, comments from policymakers of major central banks will be watched closely by investors.
Japanese Yen Price Last 7 Days
The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies last 7 days. Japanese Yen was the weakest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.04% | -0.44% | 0.41% | 0.06% | -0.99% | -0.83% | -0.07% | |
| EUR | 0.04% | -0.40% | 0.28% | 0.09% | -0.94% | -0.80% | -0.04% | |
| GBP | 0.44% | 0.40% | 0.81% | 0.50% | -0.60% | -0.39% | 0.37% | |
| JPY | -0.41% | -0.28% | -0.81% | -0.31% | -1.36% | -1.35% | -0.43% | |
| CAD | -0.06% | -0.09% | -0.50% | 0.31% | -1.01% | -0.89% | -0.13% | |
| AUD | 0.99% | 0.94% | 0.60% | 1.36% | 1.01% | 0.15% | 0.94% | |
| NZD | 0.83% | 0.80% | 0.39% | 1.35% | 0.89% | -0.15% | 0.91% | |
| CHF | 0.07% | 0.04% | -0.37% | 0.43% | 0.13% | -0.94% | -0.91% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent JPY (base)/USD (quote).
USD/JPY opened with a big bullish gap as markets reacted to Sanae Takaichi's, who is known to be a fiscal dove that could oppose further monetary tightening by the Bank of Japan (BoJ), win in the leadership race of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Takaichi would become the first female Prime Minister of Japan and is expected to oppose any further monetary tightening by the Bank of Japan (BoJ). Reuters reported that Takuji Aida, one of Takaichi's closest advisers on economic policy, said that Takaichi could likely tolerate another 25 basis-points interest rate hike by January next year if the economy is in firm shape. At the time of press, USD/JPY was trading at its highest level since early August above 150.00, rising more than 1.5% on the day. Reflecting the broad-based JPY weakness, EUR/JPY was last seen rising 1.3% at 175.45, while GBP/JPY was up 1.45% at 201.67.
In the meantime, the US government remains shut and there are no developments that suggests that the Senate is in a hurry to break the deadlock. Over the weekend, White House National Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, said that if President Donald Trump decided that negotiations are "absolutely going nowhere," they will start laying people off. Nevertheless, the US Dollar (USD) Index rebounds on Monday and clings to gains above 98.00 in the European session.
Gold gathers bullish momentum at the beginning of the week and trades at a new record-high above $3,900, as it continues to attract buyers amid the uncertainty surrounding the US economic outlook. Israel and Hamas are expected to begin direct talks in Egypt on Monday to find a middle ground to implement Trump's proposed peace plan.
EUR/USD edges lower in the European morning on Monday and trades near 1.1700. European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde will deliver a statement before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament later in the day.
After ending the previous week in positive territory, GBP/USD struggles to hold its ground and retreats to the 1.3450 area on Monday. Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey will speak at Scotland's Global Investment Summit 2025 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Japanese Yen FAQs
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the world’s most traded currencies. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the differential between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.
One of the Bank of Japan’s mandates is currency control, so its moves are key for the Yen. The BoJ has directly intervened in currency markets sometimes, generally to lower the value of the Yen, although it refrains from doing it often due to political concerns of its main trading partners. The BoJ ultra-loose monetary policy between 2013 and 2024 caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks. More recently, the gradually unwinding of this ultra-loose policy has given some support to the Yen.
Over the last decade, the BoJ’s stance of sticking to ultra-loose monetary policy has led to a widening policy divergence with other central banks, particularly with the US Federal Reserve. This supported a widening of the differential between the 10-year US and Japanese bonds, which favored the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen. The BoJ decision in 2024 to gradually abandon the ultra-loose policy, coupled with interest-rate cuts in other major central banks, is narrowing this differential.
The Japanese Yen is often seen as a safe-haven investment. This means that in times of market stress, investors are more likely to put their money in the Japanese currency due to its supposed reliability and stability. Turbulent times are likely to strengthen the Yen’s value against other currencies seen as more risky to invest in.
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