USD/JPY consolidates near 152 – BBH

FXStreet Insights Team FXStreet

USD/JPY is consolidating just under yesterday’s intra-day high of 152.17. Japan’s top trio - Prime Minister Takaichi, Finance Minister Katayama, and Economy Minister Kiuchi – all stressed the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) independence, BBH FX analysts report, BBH FX analysts report.

Japan leaders affirm BOJ independence

"Long-term JGB yields remain steady. PM Takaichi has ordered a fresh package of economic measures that is likely to exceed last year's ¥13.9 trillion (2.2% of GDP) supplementary budget to help households tackle inflation."

"We anticipate the BOJ to resume normalizing rates next week or at the very least deliver a hawkish hold which can turbocharge JPY. Fiscal support is set to be ramped-up, the Tankan points to an ongoing recovery in real GDP growth and underlying inflation is making good progress towards the BOJ’s 2% target. Japan’s September CPI print is due tomorrow."

"Japan’s swaps market price-in just 10% odds of a 25bps rate hike to 0.75% at the October 30 meeting and nearly 40% probability of a hike by December. A full 25bps rate increase is priced-in over Q1 2026."

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.

GBP/USD flirts with tops near 1.3470

GBP/USD manages to regain composure and challenge the area of daily highs around 1.3470 on Friday. Cable picks up pace despite marginal gains in the Greenback in a context of swelling geopolitical tensions and rising global oil prices.

EUR/USD trims losses, back above 1.1500

EUR/USD picks up some pace and bouces off earlier lows, reclaiming the 1.1500 threshold and beyond at the end of the week. The pair’s modest pullback follows a persistent risk-averse market mood and renewed buying interest for the US Dollar.

Gold: The $4,000 mark holds the downside for now

Gold faces renewed selling pressure, falling sharply toweard the $4,000 mark per troy ounce as the US Dollar regains momentum. Escalating US-Iran tensions are keeping inflation concerns and expectations of further Fed rate hikes alive, weighing further on the yellow metal.

Bitcoin eyes 50-day EMA breakout, Ethereum consolidates, XRP steadies

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple trade near key technical levels on Friday as the broader cryptocurrency market pauses following last week's recovery. BTC is approaching the 50-day Exponential Moving Average while ETH continues to consolidate between two major EMAs.

Warsh needs to restore his reputation

We were glad to see our deeply negative reaction to the Warsh press conference was not some personal peculiarity. Just about everybody in the financial press felt the same way. The consensus is building it’s not the Fed in the dog-house but only Warsh. Today the WSJ changed it tune and blasted Warsh—"the honeymoon is already over..”

9-3: Is the Federal Reserve’s vote tally Warsh's new forward guidance?

The rate did not move. Neither did the statement, and that’s the more interesting fact. Set the July 29 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement beside the one issued on June 17, and the two documents are identical apart from a single verb and a paragraph at the bottom naming three dissenters.