Forex Today: Yen weaker, despite Abe’s big win, a light session ahead

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

Forex today was mainly driven by risk-on flows, triggered by a strong Abe win in the Japanese elections, which sent the Nikkei to fresh two-decade highs. However, the Yen failed to benefit from Abe’s landslide victory, as the outcome was already priced-in by the markets, while persisting risk-on trades also added to the weight on the safe-haven Yen. Gold also lost ground and hit 2-week lows amid broad USD strength. Meanwhile, the Antipodeans remained better bid amid better risk sentiment and higher oil prices.

Main topics in Asia

JPY: Another landslide victory for Abe: more of a relief yen-cross rally to go? - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura noted that the snap election result saw the ruling coalition (the LDP and Komeito) achieve another landslide victory - According to NHK, as of 2:00am local time 10 seats are still unknown.

Gold hits 2-week lows as risk-on prevails at full steam

Gold futures on Comex meander near the lowest levels seen since Oct 6th on Monday, extending selling-off seen last Friday, as the yellow metal continues to face double whammy…

Nikkei clocks two-decade high as Abenomics prevails

Japan's benchmark equity index Nikkei jumped to a two-decade high of 21,712.9 as Yen weakened to a three-month low following Abe's win in the snap elections.

US to put nuclear bombers on high alert - UK Mirror

UK Mirror is reporting that US is preparing for nuclear war readiness amid North Korea crisis.

Key Focus ahead

Heading into Europe on Monday, the economic calendar has very little to offer, except for the German Buba monthly report and UK CBI industrial orders data. Meanwhile, the NA session also remains data-light, with only the Eurozone consumer confidence due to be reported.

Looking ahead, we have a busy week ahead, with the Eurozone flash manufacturing PMIs, Australian CPI report, UK and US GDP data due on the cards.

EUR/USD - Strong EUR call bias & vols pick up, eyes Catalan crisis & ECB

EUR/USD was offered at the 50-day moving average hurdle on Friday as renewed hopes of tax reform in the US put a bid under the US dollar. The currency pair fell to 1.1762 on Friday and extended losses to 1.1751 in Asia.

GBP/USD: Will the buyers retain control above 1.3200?

The GBP/USD pair gradually extends its bounce from a dip to 1.3170 levels and looks to take on the recent upmove beyond 1.32 handle, in the wake of broad USD correction.

ECB to announce extension of APP at lower pace of EUR30bn/ month - Barclays

Barclays’ Research Team out with its brief preview on what to expect from the ECB monetary policy meeting due later this Thursday.

The week ahead: a busy calendar, including ECB, US/ UK GDP, Aussie CPI- Nomura

Analysts at Nomura offered a preview of the week's key events.

GMT	Event	Consensus	Previous
Monday, Oct 23
10:00	EUR German Buba Monthly Report
10:00	GBP CBI Industrial Trends Survey - Orders (MoM)	13	7
12:30	USD Chicago Fed National Activity Index		-0.31
14:00	EUR Consumer Confidence	-1.0	-1.2
15:30	USD 3-Month Bill Auction		1.09%
15:30	USD 6-Month Bill Auction		1.24%
Tuesday, Oct 24
00:30	JPY Nikkei Manufacturing PMI		52.9
07:30	EUR Markit PMI Composite	57.7	57.7
07:30	EUR Markit Services PMI	55.6	55.6
07:30	EUR Markit Manufacturing PMI	60.0	60.6
08:00	EUR Markit Manufacturing PMI	57.8	58.1
08:00	EUR Markit Services PMI	55.9	55.8
08:00	EUR Markit PMI Composite	56.6	56.7
n/a	EUR 10-y Bond Auction		0.44%
12:55	USD Redbook index (YoY)		3.6%
12:55	USD Redbook index (MoM)		-1.4%
13:45	USD Markit Manufacturing PMI	53.5	53.1
13:45	USD Markit Services PMI		55.3
13:45	USD Markit PMI Composite		54.8
14:00	USD Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index		19
15:30	USD 4-Week Bill Auction		0.995%
17:00	USD 2-Year Note Auction		1.462%
20:30	USD API Weekly Crude Oil Stock		-7.13M
Wednesday, Oct 25
00:30	AUD RBA trimmed mean CPI (YoY)	2.0%	1.8%
00:30	AUD Consumer Price Index (QoQ)	0.8%	0.2%

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

AUD/USD turns south toward 0.6900 as USD firms up

AUD/USD sees fresh selling and drops toward 0.6900 in late Asian trading on Monday, as renewed US Dollar strength weighs on the pair amid lingering Middle East and Russia-Ukraine geopolitical tensions. Focus remains on Oil prices, Treasury bond yields, and RBA expectations for fresh trading impetus in the major.

USD/JPY retakes 158.00 amid hawkish BoJ bets, firmer USD

USD/JPY erases losses and retakes 158.00 in the Asian session on Monday, trading within a one-week-old range. Geopolitical uncertainty continues to underpin the US Dollar, despite fading Fed rate hike hopes, supporting the pair's rebound. However, further upside could be capped by hawkish BoJ expectations and looming intervention risks that could support the Japanese Yen.

Gold flat lines below $4,150 as rallying USD offsets receding Fed hike bets

Gold extends its consolidative price move, trading below $4,150 heading into the European session, and moves within a range held over the past week or so. As investors look past Friday's disappointing US jobs data, the US Dollar regains strong positive traction and rallies to a fresh high since April 2025. This is seen as a key factor capping the commodity, though receding bets for an October rate hike by the Federal Reserve help limit the downside.

BNB: Derivatives back bullish upside continuation

BNB, formerly known as Binance Coin, edges lower trading around $790 on Monday after posting three consecutive weekly gains. Rising Open Interest and positive funding rates suggest that bullish positioning is strengthening in the derivatives market.

Economics week ahead

In the U.S., the September ISM Services index is expected to ease modestly while continuing to signal expansion, with particular attention on whether price pressures remain elevated. In Canada, the labor market likely rebounded in September, although broader trends still point to a cooling pace of employment growth.

The Euro is near a one-year low: Inflation could trigger its rebound, not its fall

EUR/USD has fallen to its lowest level since May 2025. The pair hit 1.1312 on Wednesday and trades well below the January peak of 1.2082. The decline reflects a powerful combination of US Dollar strength, geopolitical uncertainty and renewed concerns about Europe's exposure to higher energy prices.