Japanese Yen hangs near one-month low against USD; seems vulnerable ahead of US data
The Japanese Yen (JPY) maintains its offered tone through the Asian session on Wednesday amid heightened domestic political and trade-related uncertainties. Furthermore, the lack of hawkish signals from Bank of Japan (BoJ) Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino on Tuesday seems to encourage speculators to continue building short JPY positions. Apart from this, some follow-through US Dollar (USD) uptick lifts the USD/JPY pair back closer to a one-month top, around the 149.00 neighborhood touched the previous day.
Meanwhile, expectations that Japan's tight labor market could fuel further wage gains and boost inflation keep hopes alive for an imminent interest rate hike by the BoJ before the year-end.
This marks a significant divergence in comparison to bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will lower borrowing costs later this month, which could act as a headwind for the USD and cap the upside for the USD/JPY pair. Traders might also refrain from placing aggressive directional bets ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report on Friday.
Source: FXstreet