Japanese Yen hangs near one-month low vs USD; bears seem hesitant amid intervention risks

USD/JPY attracts some buyers on Tuesday, though the uptick lacks bullish conviction.
Intervention fears and BoJ rate hike bets support the JPY, capping gains for the major.
The Israel-Iran truce weighs on the USD and further acts as a headwind for spot prices.

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

The USD/JPY pair struggles to build on a modest Asian session uptick on Tuesday and remains below its highest level since April 30, set the previous day. Spot prices, however, hold above the 160.00 psychological mark and seem unaffected by a broadly weaker US Dollar (USD).

Iran and Israel said that they had halted attacks on each other after an appeal from US President Donald Trump. This drags the USD Index (DXY), which tracks the safe-haven Greenback against a basket of currencies, away from a two-month high, touched on Monday, and acts as a headwind for the USD/JPY pair. Furthermore, speculations that authorities will step in again to prop up the Japanese Yen (JPY) contribute to capping spot prices.

In fact, Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama reiterated earlier today that the stance is unchanged and authorities are prepared for decisive measures. The JPY bulls, however, seem hesitant amid worries that Japan's economy will remain under strain due to the Middle East conflict and the continued energy supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz. This offsets Bank of Japan (BoJ) rate hike bets and further supports the USD/JPY pair.

Meanwhile, firming expectations that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will raise borrowing costs by the end of this year, along with the uncertainty over the US-Iran peace deal, should limit USD losses. Investors might also opt to wait for the US inflation figures – Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. This warrants some caution before confirming that the USD/JPY pair has formed a near-term top.

Japanese Yen Price Last 30 days

The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies last 30 days. Japanese Yen was the strongest against the Swiss Franc.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		1.59%	1.53%	2.08%	2.04%	2.24%	1.90%	2.13%
EUR	-1.59%		-0.09%	0.52%	0.48%	0.57%	0.28%	0.53%
GBP	-1.53%	0.09%		0.62%	0.58%	0.75%	0.39%	0.62%
JPY	-2.08%	-0.52%	-0.62%		-0.05%	0.00%	-0.23%	0.07%
CAD	-2.04%	-0.48%	-0.58%	0.05%		0.02%	-0.18%	0.09%
AUD	-2.24%	-0.57%	-0.75%	-0.00%	-0.02%		-0.23%	-0.03%
NZD	-1.90%	-0.28%	-0.39%	0.23%	0.18%	0.23%		0.14%
CHF	-2.13%	-0.53%	-0.62%	-0.07%	-0.09%	0.03%	-0.14%

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

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

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