USD/JPY extends rally to near 150.80 as Japanese Yen continues to underperform
- USD/JPY rises further to near 150.80 as the Japanese Yen underperforms across the board.
- Japan’s PM Takaichi supports higher fiscal spending and tax cuts.
- The US Dollar gains despite US government shutdown and firm Fed dovish bets.
The USD/JPY pair gains further to near 150.80 during the European trading session on Tuesday. The pair strengthens as the Japanese Yen (JPY) continues to underperforms its peers amid expectations that the election of Sanae Takaichi as Japan’s Prime Minister (PM) could de-rail the Bank of Japan (BoJ) from its policy normalization path.
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 US Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.33% | 0.37% | 0.29% | 0.04% | 0.29% | 0.51% | 0.15% | |
| EUR | -0.33% | 0.05% | 0.02% | -0.28% | -0.02% | 0.19% | -0.05% | |
| GBP | -0.37% | -0.05% | -0.08% | -0.33% | -0.02% | 0.10% | -0.10% | |
| JPY | -0.29% | -0.02% | 0.08% | -0.24% | 0.03% | 0.13% | -0.16% | |
| CAD | -0.04% | 0.28% | 0.33% | 0.24% | 0.24% | 0.43% | 0.23% | |
| AUD | -0.29% | 0.02% | 0.02% | -0.03% | -0.24% | 0.07% | -0.08% | |
| NZD | -0.51% | -0.19% | -0.10% | -0.13% | -0.43% | -0.07% | -0.28% | |
| CHF | -0.15% | 0.05% | 0.10% | 0.16% | -0.23% | 0.08% | 0.28% |
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).
Japan’s PM Takaichi has criticized BoJ’s monetary tightening stance and has argued in favour of higher spending and tax cuts to offset rising cost of living costs, Reuters reported.
Weakening hopes of more BoJ interest rate hikes are unfavorable for the Japanese Yen, which was outperforming in past few weeks on growing acceptance of further policy tightening.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar (USD) trades higher despite firm Federal Reserve (Fed) dovish bets and ongoing government shutdown. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades 0.3% higher to near 98.40.
According to the CME FedWatch tool, traders seem confident that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) in each of its remaining two policy meetings this year.
For more cues on the monetary policy outlook, investors await speeches from a slew of Fed officials scheduled during the North American session.
US Dollar FAQs
The US Dollar (USD) is the official currency of the United States of America, and the ‘de facto’ currency of a significant number of other countries where it is found in circulation alongside local notes. It is the most heavily traded currency in the world, accounting for over 88% of all global foreign exchange turnover, or an average of $6.6 trillion in transactions per day, according to data from 2022. Following the second world war, the USD took over from the British Pound as the world’s reserve currency. For most of its history, the US Dollar was backed by Gold, until the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1971 when the Gold Standard went away.
The most important single factor impacting on the value of the US Dollar is monetary policy, which is shaped by the Federal Reserve (Fed). The Fed has two mandates: to achieve price stability (control inflation) and foster full employment. Its primary tool to achieve these two goals is by adjusting interest rates. When prices are rising too quickly and inflation is above the Fed’s 2% target, the Fed will raise rates, which helps the USD value. When inflation falls below 2% or the Unemployment Rate is too high, the Fed may lower interest rates, which weighs on the Greenback.
In extreme situations, the Federal Reserve can also print more Dollars and enact quantitative easing (QE). QE is the process by which the Fed substantially increases the flow of credit in a stuck financial system. It is a non-standard policy measure used when credit has dried up because banks will not lend to each other (out of the fear of counterparty default). It is a last resort when simply lowering interest rates is unlikely to achieve the necessary result. It was the Fed’s weapon of choice to combat the credit crunch that occurred during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008. It involves the Fed printing more Dollars and using them to buy US government bonds predominantly from financial institutions. QE usually leads to a weaker US Dollar.
Quantitative tightening (QT) is the reverse process whereby the Federal Reserve stops buying bonds from financial institutions and does not reinvest the principal from the bonds it holds maturing in new purchases. It is usually positive for the US Dollar.
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