Trading and Analysis

EUR/USD remains strongly bid around 1.1850 in European trading on Monday. The USD/JPY slide-led broad US Dollar weakness helps the pair build on Friday's recovery ahead of the Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence data for February. 

The Japanese Yen is looking to build on its strong intraday move up amid speculations that authorities will step in to stem weakness in the domestic currency. In fact, Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama stepped up intervention warnings and confirmed close coordination with the US against disorderly FX moves. This, along with some follow-through US Dollar selling, triggers an intraday USD/JPY turnaround from the 157.65 region, touched in reaction to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's landslide win in Sunday's election.

Gold struggles to capitalize on its intraday move up and remains below the $5,100 mark heading into the European session amid mixed cues. Data released over the weekend showed that the People's Bank of China extended its buying spree for a 15th month in January. Moreover, dovish US Fed expectations and concerns about the central bank's independence drag the US Dollar lower for the second straight day, providing an additional boost to the non-yielding yellow metal.

Cardano (ADA) steadies at $0.27 at the time of writing on Monday after slipping more than 5% in the previous week. On-chain data indicate a bearish trend, with certain whales offloading ADA. However, the technical outlook suggests bearish momentum is weakening, raising the possibility of a short-term relief rebound if buying interest picks up.

I do not think I would be exaggerating to say that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s snap general election gamble paid off over the weekend – and then some. This secured the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) an unprecedented mandate just three months into her tenure.

The JPY gathers strength against its major rivals to start the week as markets react to Sanae Takaichi's historic election victory. In the second half of the day, policymakers from the ECB, the Fed and the BoE will be delivering speeches.