EUR/JPY sets to capture 166.00 on Japanese Yen’s persistent underperformance

• EUR/JPY eyes more upside amid uncertainty over BoJ’s neat rate hike.
• Japan Ochi expects that an intervention is possible if the Yen slides further to 160 or 170 vs. the US Dollar.
• The speculation for ECB pivoting to interest rate cuts in June remains firm.

The EUR/JPY pair aims to extend its upside to 166.00 due to persistent weakness in the Japanese Yen. The cross consolidates near multi-year highs but is expected to rise further as investors expect that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will struggle to tighten its monetary policy further due to absence of significant wage growth spiral.

Apart from that, Japan has raised bar for USD/JPY where the administration could do a stealth intervention has also weighed on the Japanese Yen. In Wednesday’s early European session, Senior Japan Ruling Party Executive Ochi said, "There is no broad consensus right now, but if the yen slides further toward 160 or 170 to the dollar, that may be deemed excessive and could prompt policymakers to consider some action" Reuters reported.

Earlier, investors were speculating that Japan will intervene in the FX domain when the Japanese Yen will drop to 155.00 against the US Dollar. But now higher targets for the major have exposed the Japanese Yen to more downside.

Going forward, investors will focus on the BoJ’s interest rate decision, which will be announced on Friday. A Reuters poll in the April 11-17 period showed that none of the economists have predicted a rate hike move before June. The survey also showed that economists are anticipating that the BoJ will raise interest rates one more time. The survey lacks clear consensus on when exactly the move would come.

Meanwhile, the Euro performs relatively weaker against other currencies as the European Central Bank (ECB) is widely anticipated to cut interest rates in the June meeting. ECB policymaker Villeroy de Galhau said last week that they could cut rates in the next meeting, barring a major surprise. Villeroy emphasized on returning to structural transformation as inflation is receding.

Also, ECB Joachim Nagel said in Wednesday’s European session that a June interest rate cut may not be necessarily followed up by a series of rate cuts. The statement clearly indicates that he is comfortable with a rate cut move in June.