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Japanese Yen: Watching 162 resistance after hawkish BoJ – Scotiabank

Scotiabank strategists Shaun Osborne and Eric Theoret note the Japanese Yen (JPY) is only fractionally weaker versus the Dollar (USD) but is outperforming across G10 crosses, reflecting market caution over potential official intervention. Governor Ueda’s hawkish comments, describing conditions as accommodative, support tightening expectations. For USD/JPY, the bank highlights key resistance above 162 and near-term support at 160 around upcoming Tokyo Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.

Yen resilience and key USD/JPY levels

"The yen is down fractionally vs. the USD while outperforming all of the G10 currencies on the crosses."

"The resilience is notable, and likely reflects markets participants’ ongoing fears of official currency management (intervention, price checking)."

"The latest data releases were limited to as expected PPI for May (3.3% y/y) and the next major data point will be the Tokyo CPI scheduled for Thursday at 7:30pm ET (Friday local)."

"Overnight comments from BoJ Gov. Ueda were hawkish, leaning toward further tightening while characterizing current financial conditions as ‘accommodative’."

"For USDJPY, we note the importance of resistance above 162 and see near-term support at 160."

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

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