Yen Falls as Traders Mull Bank of Japan Outlook
The yen weakened against every Group-of-10 peer as investors weighed dimming chances of a Bank of Japan interest rate hike this month.
USD/JPY rose as much as 0.3% to 157.78, advancing for a third straight session as traders consider another BOJ rate pause. Governor Kazuo Ueda avoided giving clear signals of a hike in January during last week’s speech.
US jobs and manufacturing data due later Thursday will give further pulse checks on the economy and provide more clarity on the dollar’s trajectory.
“With a BOJ rate hike unlikely until March, the risk of dollar-yen testing extending its rally towards 160/162 in early 2025 remains elevated,” Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG Australia Pty, wrote in a note. “A break above short-term resistance at 158.10/20ish would be an initial indication that the next leg higher has commenced”.
Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed and there’s no Treasuries cash trading due to a Japan holiday.
AUD/USD edged up 0.1% to 0.6192.
S&P Global’s Australia December manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 47.8 from 49.4 in Nov.
GBP/USD held at 1.2512.
Source : Bloomberg
