Japanese Yen: Bearish bias intact against US Dollar – UOB

FXStreet Insights Team FXStreet

United Overseas Bank’s Quek Ser Leang and Lee Sue Ann keep a constructive view on USD/JPY, noting the pair has held above strong support at 161.10 while trading quietly around 161.78. Intraday, they expect a tight 161.45–161.95 range, but on a 1–3 week horizon still looks for a test of the 2024 high at 162.00, with longer-term scope to probe the top of a rising wedge near 161.15.

Dollar-Yen holds firm near cycle highs

"24-HOUR VIEW: Yesterday, we indicated that USD “could trade between 161.40 and 161.90.” USD then traded within a range of 161.54/161.94, closing marginally higher by 0.01% at 161.78. We are not able to derive much from the price action. Today, USD could trade between 161.45 and 161.95."

"1-3 WEEKS VIEW: We have held a positive USD view since last Thursday (see annotations in the chart below). In our most recent narrative from Friday (19 Jun, spot at 161.25), we indicated that USD “could rise to the 2024 high of 162.00.” While USD has not been able to make any significant headway on the upside, we will continue to hold this view as long as 161.10 (no change in ‘strong support’ level) is not breached."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)

Author

FXStreet Insights Team

FXStreet

The FXStreet Insights Team is a group of journalists that handpicks selected market observations published by renowned experts. The content includes notes by commercial as well as additional insights by internal and external analysts.

AUD/USD: The 0.7000 level holds the downside…for now

AUD/USD has clinched its fourth consecutive daily pullback on Thursday, coming closer to the key 0.7000 region while breaking below the critical 200-day SMA at the same time. The Aussie’s decline comes on the back of further gains in the Greenback in a context of rising yields and Fed rate hike bets.

USD/JPY keeps the red near 158.00 as Japanese Yen firms up

USD/JPY retreats from three-week highs and holds losses near 158.00 in the Asian session on Thursday. Surging Japanese bond yields lift the Yen amid looming intervention risks, while the US Dollar preserves overnight gains to a two-month high amid hawkish Fed bets and elevated US bond yields.

Gold bounces off lows, still below $4,300

Gold builds on Wednesday’s retracement, briefly slipping back below $4,250 per troy ounce to attempt a lacklustre rebound afterwards. The better tone in the US Dollar, rising US Treasury yields and expectation of extra rate hikes by the Fed continue to weigh on the precious metal in the latter part of Thursday’s NA session.

XRP is flashing three bullish signals heading into a historically weak October

XRP (XRP) is still flashing 3 bullish signals across its holders, derivatives, and ETF data. These signals come as the token gave back part of its September gains on Thursday. The token traded near $1.50 at press time, down about 6.3% over 24 hours, according to BeInCrypto Markets data. The pullback still leaves XRP up over 15.6% on the week, a gain that tracks a broader market rally.

Advanced economies: From one example of resilience to another

History tends to repeat itself in advanced economies. Once again, growth ultimately fell short of expectations by only a small margin in the first half of 2026, despite the conflict in Iran. As early as 2025, the impact of tariffs was less severe than feared.

BoJ Recap: Not as hawkish as expected

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised its short-term interest-rate target to 1.25% from 1.00% in a 7-2 vote, marking another step in the normalisation of monetary policy and widely matching what everyone has been expecting for weeks.