USD/JPY declines to near 143.00 as Japanese Yen outperforms, BoJ policy in focus
- USD/JPY falls to near 143.00 amid strength in Japanese Yen ahead of BoJ’s policy on Thursday.
- The BoJ is expected to keep rates steady at 0.5% amid uncertainty over how Trump’s tariff policies will shape the global economic outlook.
- US Bessent has indicated that the ball is in China’s court when asked about development on US-China trade talks.
The USD/JPY pair falls sharply to near 143.00 during North American hours on Monday. The pair declines as the Japanese Yen (JPY) trades strongly at the start of the week, with investors awaiting the monetary policy announcement by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) on Thursday.
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 Swiss Franc.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.04% | -0.39% | -0.34% | -0.12% | -0.13% | -0.01% | -0.12% | |
| EUR | -0.04% | -0.49% | -0.41% | -0.18% | -0.27% | -0.06% | -0.18% | |
| GBP | 0.39% | 0.49% | 0.08% | 0.33% | 0.20% | 0.43% | 0.32% | |
| JPY | 0.34% | 0.41% | -0.08% | 0.26% | 0.25% | -1.07% | 0.49% | |
| CAD | 0.12% | 0.18% | -0.33% | -0.26% | -0.13% | 0.11% | 0.00% | |
| AUD | 0.13% | 0.27% | -0.20% | -0.25% | 0.13% | 0.22% | 0.09% | |
| NZD | 0.00% | 0.06% | -0.43% | 1.07% | -0.11% | -0.22% | -0.12% | |
| CHF | 0.12% | 0.18% | -0.32% | -0.49% | -0.01% | -0.09% | 0.12% |
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).
On Monday, Japanese markets remained closed on account of Showa Day.
This week, the BoJ is expected to leave interest rates at their current levels of 0.5% for the second time in a row. Therefore, investors will pay close attention to the monetary policy statement and Bank Governor Kazuo Ueda’s press conference to know whether the central bank will raise interest rates in the near term.
Investors doubt that the BoJ will hike its borrowing rates soon, as tariffs announced by United States (US) President Donald Trump are expected to diminish Japan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. However, accelerating inflationary pressures keep the doors of tight monetary policy wide open.
Statistics Bureau of Japan reported on Friday that Tokyo Consumer Price Index (CPI) excluding Fresh Food rose at a robust pace of 3.4% in March, compared to estimates of 3.2% and the prior release of 2.4%.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar (USD) ticks lower amid uncertainty over trade talks between the US and China. During North American trading hours on Monday, the comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have indicated that the outlook for US-China trade is in the hands of Beijing. “I believe that it’s up to China to de-escalate, because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them, Bessent said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box and added, so these 120%, 145% tariffs are unsustainable. These comments came after Bessent was asked about progress in trade talks with China and how long higher tariffs by both nations will be sustained. Bessent further added that Chinese exemptions show “they want de-escalation on trade."
Last week, China stated that it is considering suspending additional tariffs on imports of medical equipment and some industrial chemicals from the US.
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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