Japanese Yen outperform as BoJ’s Ueda expresses readiness to intervene in FX markets
- Japanese Yen gains against its major currency peers on hopes of the BoJ's intervention.
- Several BoJ members remain confident of near-term interest rate hikes.
- US President Trump is confident of a deal with Iran “fairly quickly”.
The Japanese Yen (JPY) trades higher against its major currency peers during the Asian trading session on Monday. The USD/JPY pair struggles to extend its four-day winning streak on Monday, trading 0.2% down to near 160.00, following comments from Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda said that changes in the foreign exchange (FX) market are key factors that have a “huge impact on Japan's economy, and prices”, adding that the central bank “will closely watch FX moves”.
Japanese Yen Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies today. Japanese Yen was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.01% | 0.05% | -0.24% | -0.04% | 0.32% | 0.30% | -0.04% | |
| EUR | -0.01% | 0.03% | -0.22% | -0.05% | 0.35% | 0.29% | -0.06% | |
| GBP | -0.05% | -0.03% | -0.30% | -0.08% | 0.30% | 0.26% | -0.09% | |
| JPY | 0.24% | 0.22% | 0.30% | 0.21% | 0.57% | 0.53% | 0.19% | |
| CAD | 0.04% | 0.05% | 0.08% | -0.21% | 0.35% | 0.27% | -0.02% | |
| AUD | -0.32% | -0.35% | -0.30% | -0.57% | -0.35% | -0.03% | -0.37% | |
| NZD | -0.30% | -0.29% | -0.26% | -0.53% | -0.27% | 0.03% | -0.35% | |
| CHF | 0.04% | 0.06% | 0.09% | -0.19% | 0.02% | 0.37% | 0.35% |
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).
It seems to be a warning from the BoJ that it could intervene against one-way excessive moves against the Japanese Yen (JPY).
BoJ Ueda’s comments came after the Summary of Opinions of the March policy meeting release, which showed that several policymakers remained confident of further monetary tightening in the near term.
“One member said the BoJ must raise policy rate without hesitation if there are no signs of significant deterioration in the economic environment, wave-setting stance of small and midsized firms,” the BoJ Summary of Opinions showed.
Several members also discussed the likely consequences of the ongoing war in the Middle East on the economy and prices, and the majority decided to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.75%. “One member said the BoJ can keep rates steady this time due to uncertainty over Middle East developments,” according to Summary of Opinions.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar (USD) gives back its opening gains as United States (US) President Donald Trump has expressed confidence, in an interview with Financial Times (FT), that a deal with Iran is expected “fairly quickly”. Trump warned that Washington can seize Iran’s Kharg Island “very easily”.
As of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades flat around 100.15.
Bank of Japan FAQs
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is the Japanese central bank, which sets monetary policy in the country. Its mandate is to issue banknotes and carry out currency and monetary control to ensure price stability, which means an inflation target of around 2%.
The Bank of Japan embarked in an ultra-loose monetary policy in 2013 in order to stimulate the economy and fuel inflation amid a low-inflationary environment. The bank’s policy is based on Quantitative and Qualitative Easing (QQE), or printing notes to buy assets such as government or corporate bonds to provide liquidity. In 2016, the bank doubled down on its strategy and further loosened policy by first introducing negative interest rates and then directly controlling the yield of its 10-year government bonds. In March 2024, the BoJ lifted interest rates, effectively retreating from the ultra-loose monetary policy stance.
The Bank’s massive stimulus caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers. This process exacerbated in 2022 and 2023 due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks, which opted to increase interest rates sharply to fight decades-high levels of inflation. The BoJ’s policy led to a widening differential with other currencies, dragging down the value of the Yen. This trend partly reversed in 2024, when the BoJ decided to abandon its ultra-loose policy stance.
A weaker Yen and the spike in global energy prices led to an increase in Japanese inflation, which exceeded the BoJ’s 2% target. The prospect of rising salaries in the country – a key element fuelling inflation – also contributed to the move.
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