USD/JPY flat lines below 158.00, bulls turn cautious amid subdued USD price action

■  USD/JPY consolidates its recent gains to the highest level since late April.

■  The BoJ April meeting minutes fail to provide any impetus to the major.

■  Tuesday’s disappointing US data weigh on the USD and cap the upside.

The USD/JPY pair is seen oscillating in a narrow band during the Asian session on Wednesday and currently trading just below the 158.00 round-figure mark. Spot prices, meanwhile, move little following the release of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) April meeting minutes and remain well within the striking distance of the highest level since late April retested the previous day.

The minutes revealed that BoJ board members debated the risks associated with the impact of weak Japanese Yen (JPY) on the underlying inflation and flagged the chance of raising interest rates sooner than expected if inflation overshoots. This, however, does little to impress the JPY bulls or provide any meaningful impetus to the USD/JPY pair, though subdued US Dollar (USD) price action continues to act as a headwind for spot prices. 

The USD Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of currencies, hangs near the weekly low touched in the aftermath of weaker US Retail Sales released on Tuesday. The data pointed to signs of exhaustion among US consumers, lifting bets for an imminent rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) later this year. This led to the overnight decline in the US Treasury bond yields and keeps the USD bulls on the defensive. 

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda's hawkish remarks on Tuesday, saying that the central bank could raise rates in July depending on economic data, underpin the JPY. Apart from this, speculations that Japanese authorities might intervene to prop up the domestic currency further contribute to capping the USD/JPY pair. Hence, any subsequent move up might continue to attract some sellers and remain limited.