Japanese Yen dives back closer to weekly trough against a broadly firmer USD
The Japanese Yen (JPY) drifts lower against a broadly stronger US Dollar (USD) during the Asian session on Friday and remains on track to register weekly losses amid reduced bets for an immediate rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BoJ).
US President Donald Trump recently imposed a 25% tariff on all Japanese exports to America starting on August 1 and ruled out any extension of the deadline.
This comes at a time when economic growth has been slowing, which, along with declining real wages and signs of cooling inflationary pressures, should allow the BoJ to forgo raising interest rates this year.
Furthermore, domestic political uncertainty ahead of the House of Councillors election on July 20 turns out to be another factor that contributes to the JPY's relative underperformance against its American counterpart.
In fact, the USD Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of currencies, stands firm near a two-and-a-half week high touched on Thursday amid diminishing odds for a near-term reduction in borrowing costs by the Federal Reserve (Fed). This, in turn, lifts the USD/JPY pair back closer to the 147.00 mark in the last hour and backs the case for a further appreciation.
Source: FXStreet