|

Japanese Yen clings to losses against US Dollar as hawkish Fed bets escalate

  • The Japanese Yen continues to underperform the US Dollar as traders price out dovish Fed bets.
  • Rising US inflationary pressures have squeezed out hopes of a Fed interest rate cut this year.
  • BoJ Summary of Opinions showed that there could be an interest rate hike in the June policy meeting.

The Japanese Yen (JPY) reflects weakness against the US Dollar (USD) during the European trading session on Thursday, with the USD/JPY pair holding onto the two-week high near 158.00. The pair remains firm due to the continued outperformance of the US Dollar.

So far this week, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, is up 0.72% to near 98.55.

US Dollar Price This week

The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.

USDEURGBPJPYCADAUDNZDCHF
USD0.32%0.30%0.79%0.20%-0.40%0.04%0.52%
EUR-0.32%-0.04%0.52%-0.14%-0.74%-0.33%0.19%
GBP-0.30%0.04%0.06%-0.13%-0.73%-0.29%0.22%
JPY-0.79%-0.52%-0.06%-0.66%-1.20%-0.76%-0.24%
CAD-0.20%0.14%0.13%0.66%-0.50%-0.10%0.32%
AUD0.40%0.74%0.73%1.20%0.50%0.45%0.93%
NZD-0.04%0.33%0.29%0.76%0.10%-0.45%0.48%
CHF-0.52%-0.19%-0.22%0.24%-0.32%-0.93%-0.48%

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 US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).

The US Dollar trades firmly amid firm expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will not cut interest rates the entire year. The CME FedWatch tool shows that the Fed will either hold interest rates steady at their current levels or deliver at least one interest rate hike, with 66.8% possibility of maintaining the status quo.

Traders have priced out dovish Fed bets, following the release of the United States (US) Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for April on Tuesday, which showed that the headline inflation accelerated to 3.8% Year-on-Year (YoY), the highest level seen in almost three years.

Meanwhile, investors await US President Donald Trump’s comments after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

On the Japanese Yen front, Bank of Japan (BoJ) Summary of Opinions (SoP) for the April meeting released on Tuesday showed that “an interest rate hike likely from next meeting despite uncertain Middle East outlook”.

In late Thursday’s session, investors will focus on the US Retail Sales data for April, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. The US Retail Sales data, a key measure of consumer spending, is expected to have grown at a moderate pace of 0.5% compared to the previous reading of 1.7%.

Economic Indicator

BoJ Summary of Opinions

This report includes the BOJ's projection for inflation and economic growth. It is scheduled 8 times per year, about 10 days after the Monetary Policy Statement is released.

Read more.

Last release: Mon May 11, 2026 23:50

Frequency: Irregular

Actual: -

Consensus: -

Previous: -

Source: Bank of Japan

Author

Sagar Dua

Sagar Dua

FXStreet

Sagar Dua is associated with the financial markets from his college days. Along with pursuing post-graduation in Commerce in 2014, he started his markets training with chart analysis.

More from Sagar Dua
Share:

Editor's Picks

AUD/USD remains below 0.7000 amid light trading

AUD/USD fills a modest bearish gap on Monday, but remains below 0.7000 in the Asian session amid holiday-thinned liquidity. The US Dollar attempts a bounce even as US bond yields pull back from multi-year highs, limiting the pair. Moreover, diminishing odds of another RBA rate hike in November cap the Aussie.

USD/JPY hovers above 158.00 amid Japan/ US holiday

USD/JPY extends its range-bound price action into a new week, trading above 158.00 as bulls remain on high alert amid speculation that authorities will step in to prop up the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, softer US bond yields keep US Dollar bulls on the back foot and cap the pair's upside. However, geopolitical uncertainties could limit losses for the safe-haven buck amid thin liquidity due to a holiday in Japan and the US.

Gold  remains vulnerable below $4,200 on Fed hike bets

Gold is under mild selling pressure on Monday, trading at around $4,170. The US Dollar advances modestly in thin trading, supported by bets that the Federal Reserve will hike rates at least one more time before year-end.

Bitcoin struggles as ETF outflows, geopolitical uncertainty weigh

Bitcoin hovers around $83,600 on Monday after a 3.1% correction last week. US-listed spot ETFs recorded an outflow of $681.10 million last week, snapping the three-week inflow streak. Geopolitical uncertainty and mixed signals keep investors cautious.

The week ahead: A critical week as earnings and CPI test market

The Oil price is relatively stable this morning, and US and European stock markets are poised to open higher, as risk sentiment shrugs off an escalation in the Middle East and concerns about rising bond yields.

Has Bitcoin really escaped the macro forces it was built to fight?
Over 17 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin (BTC) on the back of a global financial crisis as an alternative to the global monetary system outside the control of central banks, governments and traditional intermediaries. This raises a key question: has Bitcoin really become independent of the macroeconomic forces it was built to challenge?