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Euro holds steady vs Japanese Yen ahead of ECB, BoJ meetings

  • EUR/JPY trades around 185.70 on Monday, little changed during the day.
  • Investors await the ECB's policy decision on Thursday and the BoJ's meeting next week.
  • Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and concerns over potential FX intervention continue to slightly support the Japanese Yen.

EUR/JPY trades around 185.70 on Monday at the time of writing, showing little direction after a quiet start to the week. Investors remain cautious ahead of a series of central bank meetings, while geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and expectations surrounding Japanese monetary policy keep the cross in a tight range.

On the Eurozone side, data released on Monday showed that Germany's Producer Price Index (PPI) rose by 1.8% YoY in June, slowing from May's 2.2% gain. On a monthly basis, producer prices fell by 0.3%, a steeper decline than the 0.2% drop expected by markets.

Attention now turns to the European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting on Thursday. Markets widely expect the central bank to leave interest rates unchanged after delivering a 25-basis-point increase at its previous meeting. Investors will closely monitor the monetary policy statement and comments from ECB President Christine Lagarde for fresh clues on the future path of interest rates.

The Euro (EUR) also remains under pressure from escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, which continue to support higher Oil prices and weigh on the Eurozone's economic outlook. Against this backdrop, markets are also expected to look for any indication from Christine Lagarde regarding the possibility of another rate hike at the September meeting.

Meanwhile, investors remain cautious over the possibility of foreign exchange intervention by Japanese authorities. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama reiterated that the government stands ready to take "decisive action at any time" if necessary to counter excessive moves in the Japanese Yen (JPY).

According to a Kyodo report, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is expected to leave its policy rate unchanged at 1% at next week's meeting. The report also indicated that policymakers continue to see the need for additional rate hikes in the near term and may raise their economic growth forecasts, reinforcing expectations that the BoJ will continue its gradual monetary policy normalization.

Euro Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of Euro (EUR) against listed major currencies today. Euro was the strongest against the Swiss Franc.

USDEURGBPJPYCADAUDNZDCHF
USD0.08%-0.09%0.02%0.09%-0.24%-0.15%0.11%
EUR-0.08%-0.15%-0.06%-0.01%-0.31%-0.25%0.03%
GBP0.09%0.15%0.09%0.15%-0.16%-0.09%0.16%
JPY-0.02%0.06%-0.09%0.09%-0.24%-0.13%0.09%
CAD-0.09%0.00%-0.15%-0.09%-0.31%-0.21%0.00%
AUD0.24%0.31%0.16%0.24%0.31%0.09%0.36%
NZD0.15%0.25%0.09%0.13%0.21%-0.09%0.22%
CHF-0.11%-0.03%-0.16%-0.09%-0.00%-0.36%-0.22%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/USD (quote).

Author

Ghiles Guezout

Ghiles Guezout is a Market Analyst with a strong background in stock market investments, trading, and cryptocurrencies. He combines fundamental and technical analysis skills to identify market opportunities.

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