USD/JPY retreats from 150.00 – BBH

USD/JPY slipped to 148.50 after failing to hold above the 150.00 mark, as hawkish BOJ signals reinforced expectations of a rate hike at the October 30 meeting, BBH FX analysts report.

BOJ hawkish signals boost JPY

"USD/JPY is down near 148.50 after testing important psychological resistance near 150.00 on Friday. Bank of Japan (BOJ) board member Asahi Noguchi said 'the need to raise rates is increasing more than ever.' Recall, at the September BOJ meeting two of the nine board members (Takata Hajime and Tamura Naoki) favored a 25bps hike to 0.75%."

"Nogushi’s comment suggests the bar for the BOJ to resuming normalizing rates is low which bodes well for JPY. Our base case is for the BOJ to raise rates again at the next October 30 meeting (64% priced-in)."