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USD/JPY: neutral bias, to trade between 106.50/109.00 – MUFG

Analysts at MUFG Bank, point out the Bank of Japan disappointed easing expectations encouraging a stronger yen. Still, they don’t expect a firm direction in USD/JPY to emerge. 

Key Quotes:

“USD/JPY is up since last week, but while JPY rallied slightly when the BoJ meeting ended today, overall USD/JPY stayed in range. There may have been expectations that the BoJ would follow in step with the ECB and US Fed and cut rates. But the BoJ played it cool.”

“September is nearing an end. The main monetary policy events in the US, Europe, and Japan are now over, and US-China trade talks have been viewed as positive. But this is still unpredictable. The frustration regarding the US-China trade talks in May and restart after the G20 meeting in June do not bode well for smooth progress going forward. We do not expect a firm direction for USD/JPY to emerge.”

Author

Matías Salord

Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.

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