USD/JPY Forecast and News


USD/JPY falls hard toward 160.50, US NFP data awaited

USD/JPY is falling hard toward 160.50 in Asian trading on Friday, having reversed from near 161.40. The pair drops on renewed US Dollar weakness and Japanese verbal intervention, which rescues the Yen. The focus shifts to US jobs report. 

Latest Japanese Yen News


USD/JPY Technical Overview

The USD/JPY still has that sword of Damocles hanging over it, with that possible intervention from the Japanese Ministry of Finance. However, the research paper Bloomberg picked up from RBC might be an alternative approach. Should the Bank of Japan announce that it is hiking interest rates, while trimming or even completely closing down its bond buying program, markets would go cold-turkey on the double hawkish intervention. JPY would rally firmly across the board while yields would be spiking higher, and would see USD/JPY fall through the floor. 

With the Relative Strength Index (RSI) now firmly overbought in the daily chart, a correction looks to be imminent. First support at 160.32 would already be a key level. Should that level breaks, a nosedive move would be inevitable with USD/JPY heading to either 157.03 (55-day Simple Moving Average) or the 100-day SMA at 154.26.


Fundamental Overview

The Japanese Yen (JPY) strengthens to around 161.00 against the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday while the US markets are  closed for a public holiday. The move comes after a 30-year sovereign Japanese bond auction went extremely smoothly, while markets were concerned the government would have issues allocating it, with traders still concerned about the Bank of Japan (BoJ) ending its bond-buying program. Some positive news thus for the Japanese Yen which is trading higher against the US Dollar. 

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY) – which gauges the value of the US Dollar against a basket of six foreign currencies – took a hit on Wednesday with a very packed economic data calendar.. The main takeaway from all data was that nearly every data point came in a softer or below consensus view, which points to the US economy starting to slow down. 



USD/JPY Big Picture

USD/JPY Bullish Themes

USD/JPY Bearish Themes

FXS Signals

Latest Japanese Yen Analysis


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Editors' picks

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USD/JPY falls hard toward 160.50, US NFP data awaited

USD/JPY falls hard toward 160.50, US NFP data awaited

USD/JPY is falling hard toward 160.50 in Asian trading on Friday, having reversed from near 161.40. The pair drops on renewed US Dollar weakness and Japanese verbal intervention, which rescues the Yen. The focus shifts to US jobs report. 

USD/JPY News

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Signatures


USD/JPY YEARLY FORECAST

How could USD/JPY move this year? Our experts make a USD/JPY update forecasting the possible moves of the yen-dollar pair during the whole year.

USD/JPY FORECAST 2024

The Japanese Yen could receive support from the BoJ if it indicates a shift toward ending its ultra-loose monetary policy stance, potentially through a rate hike that would mark the end of seven years of negative rates. Governor Ueda and Deputy Governor Hino offered some comments about it in December. Rumors and speculations in that direction would trigger momentum for the Yen. Read more details about the forecast.

The divergence in monetary policy between the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan led the pair to test the multi-decade high near 152.00.

MOST INFLUENTIAL POLITICAL EVENTS IN 2024 FOR USD/JPY

There is a possibility that the BoJ might end its negative interest rate policy (NIRP) by raising the key rate to 0.00% in 2024. Some analysts anticipate the eventual end of YCC by January, while others believe it is more likely to occur during the second quarter. A significant challenge for the BoJ is to exit from NIRP without disrupting the economy.

Governor Kazuo Ueda has emphasized that any move will be carefully calculated, and the central bank will likely prepare the market for a change. This scenario is more likely to materialize if inflation in Japan remains above 3%.


Influential Institutions & People for the USD/JPY

The US Dollar Japanese Yen can be seriously affected by news or the decisions taken by two main central banks:

The Federal Reserve Bank (Fed)

On the other hand we found The Federal Reserve System (Fed) wich is the central banking system of the United States. Fed has two main targets: to keep unemployment rate to their lowest possible levels and inflation around 2%. The Federal Reserve System's structure is composed of the presidentially appointed Board of Governors, partially presidentially appointed Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The FOMC organizes 8 meetings in a year and reviews economic and financial conditions. Also determines the appropriate stance of monetary policy and assesses the risks to its long-run goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ)

The Bank of Japan is the central bank of Japan and it's a juridical person established based on the Bank of Japan Act, nor being a government agency either a private corporation. The most important missions of the BOJ are the following: to issue and manage banknotes, to implement monetary policy and to ensure stability of the financial system. Almost all of the decisions are taken by the Policy Board, formed by a bunch of members working to provide currency and monetary control and setting the next moves that the central bank will take.


Jerome Powell

Jerome Powell took office as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in February 2018, for a four-year term ending in February 2022. His term as a member of the Board of Governors will expire January 31, 2028. Born in Washington D.C., he received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University in 1975 and earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 1979. Powell served as an assistant secretary and as undersecretary of the Treasury under President George H.W. Bush. He also worked as a lawyer and investment banker in New York City. From 1997 through 2005, Powell was a partner at The Carlyle Group.

Kazuo Ueda

Kazuo Ueda is the 32nd and current Governor of the Bank of Japan. He is a professor and the dean of the business department at Kyoritsu Women's University in Tokyo and the external director at JGC Holdings Corp, an engineering company and at the state-owned Development Bank of Japan. The 71-year-old is widely seen as an expert on monetary policy but is seen as a surprise appointment by analysts. He was not even considered a dark-horse candidate. Ueda wasn’t really on their radar because the BOJ governor job has traditionally been assumed by a long-serving Finance Ministry bureaucrat or central bank official.  

BOJ NEWS & ANALYSIS

FED NEWS & ANALYSIS


About USD/JPY

The USD/JPY (or US Dollar Japanese Yen) currency pair belongs to the group of 'Majors', a way to mention the most important pairs in the world. This group also includes the following currency pairs: EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, USD/CHF, NZD/USD and USD/CAD. Japanese Yen has a low-interest rate and is normally used in carrying trades. This is the reason why is one of the most traded currencies worldwide. In this pair, the US Dollar is the base currency and the Japanese Yen is the counter currency. The pair represents American (from the United States of America) and Japanese economies.

Trading this currency pair is also known as trading the "ninja" or the "gopher", although this last name is more frequently used when referred to the GBP/JPY currency pair. The US Dollar Japanese Yen usually has a positive correlation with the following two pairs: USD/CHF and USD/CAD. The nature of this correlation is due to the fact that both currency pairs also use the US Dollar as the base currency. The value of the pair tends to be affected when the two main central banks of each country, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed), face serious interest rate differential.

Related pairs

GBP/USD

The GBP/USD (or Pound Dollar) currency pair belongs to the group of 'Majors', a way to mention the most important pairs worldwide. This group also includes the following currency pairs: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD, USD/CHF, NZD/USD and USD/CAD. The pair is also called 'The Cable', referring to the first Transatlantic cable that was crossing the Atlantic Ocean in order to connect Great Britain with the United States of America. This term was originated in the mid-19th century and it makes GBP/USD one of the oldest currency pairs in the world.

The popularity of the Pound Dollar is due to the fact that represents two strong economies: British and American (from the United States of America). The Cable is a closely watched and widely traded currency pair where the Pound is the base currency and the US Dollar is the counter currency. For that reason, all the macroeconomic data related to the United States and the United Kingdom affects the price of this pair. One of the events which affected most the volatility of the pound vs. dollar was Brexit.

EUR/USD

The EUR/USD (or Euro Dollar) currency pair belongs to the group of 'Majors', a way to mention the most important pairs in the world. This group also includes the following currency pairs: GBP/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD, USD/CHF, NZD/USD and USD/CAD. The popularity of Euro Dollar is due to the fact that it gathers two main economies: the European and American (from United States of America) ones. This is a widely traded currency pair where the Euro is the base currency and the US Dollar is the counter currency. Since the EUR/USD pair consists of more than half of all the trading volume worldwide in the Forex Market, it is almost impossible for a gap to appear, let alone a consequent breakaway gap in the opposite direction.

Normally, the EUR/USD is very quiet during the Asian session because economic data that affects the fundamentals of those currencies is released in either the European or U.S. session. Once traders in Europe get to their desks a flurry of activity hits the tape as they start filling customer orders and jockey for positions. At noon activity slows down as traders step out for lunch and then picks back up again as the U.S. comes online.