Euro rises against Japanese Yen as latter underperforms across the board
- The Euro gains against the Japanese Yen despite Japan’s Kiuichi confirming that the government is not encouraging lower interest rates.
- BoJ’s Asada said that inflation should be driven by wage growth and demand, not by higher oil prices.
- ECB officials deliver mixed responses to inflation outlook.
The Euro (EUR) trades 0.1% higher to near 185.20 against the Japanese Yen (JPY) during the European trading session on Wednesday. The cross gains as the Japanese Yen (JPY) underperforms its peers despite clarification from Japan’s Growth Strategy Minister Minoru Kiuichi that the government is not prompting a low-interest rate environment.
Japanese Yen Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies today. Japanese Yen was the weakest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.09% | -0.04% | 0.05% | -0.15% | -0.13% | -0.62% | -0.15% | |
| EUR | 0.09% | 0.05% | 0.15% | -0.06% | -0.04% | -0.53% | -0.06% | |
| GBP | 0.04% | -0.05% | 0.09% | -0.12% | -0.10% | -0.55% | -0.13% | |
| JPY | -0.05% | -0.15% | -0.09% | -0.21% | -0.17% | -0.68% | -0.22% | |
| CAD | 0.15% | 0.06% | 0.12% | 0.21% | 0.03% | -0.47% | -0.01% | |
| AUD | 0.13% | 0.04% | 0.10% | 0.17% | -0.03% | -0.48% | -0.05% | |
| NZD | 0.62% | 0.53% | 0.55% | 0.68% | 0.47% | 0.48% | 0.45% | |
| CHF | 0.15% | 0.06% | 0.13% | 0.22% | 0.01% | 0.05% | -0.45% |
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).
According to a note from MUFG, Japan’s Growth Strategy Minister Kiuichi has stated that “there’s absolutely no truth to reports suggesting that the government is encouraging low interest rates as part of its fiscal expansion policy. Kiuichi clarifies, “Tokyo is not easing fiscal discipline.”
On the monetary policy front, Japan Prime Minister (PM) Sanae Takaichi appointed Bank of Japan (BoJ) member Toichiro Asada, has clarified that he is not against hiking interest rates, but wants inflation to be demand-driven. “I believe it is necessary to confirm that such achievement is being supported by endogenous economic forces, such as rising wages and demand," he said, adding that such forces are not strong enough yet to justify raising rates, Reuters reported.
On the Euro front, investors struggle to position themselves due to mixed signals from European Central Bank (ECB) officials regarding inflation. On Tuesday, policymaker and Governor of the Bank of Italy, Fabio Panetta, said that upside risks to inflation in the Eurozone economy remain intact, as the governance of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint to almost 20% of global energy supply, is still uncertain.
On the contrary, ECB policymaker and the head of Belgium's central bank, Pierre Wunsch, said last week, “Any inflation surprise before the July meeting is more likely on the downside.”
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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