USD/JPY rises further above 158.00 as US Dollar extends recovery

The USD/JPY pair jumps above 158.00 in Tuesday’s European session. The asset strengthens as the US Dollar (USD) recovers strongly after a modest correction. The US Dollar exhibits a strong performance as Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers continue to reiterate their projection for only one rate cut this year.

On Monday, Philadelphia Fed Bank President Patrick Harker said he sees one cut in benchmark rates this year if his economic forecast plays out, Reuters reported.

On the contrary, financial markets expect that the Fed will deliver two rate cuts by the year-end. Market speculation for rate cuts twice this year strengthened after the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for May showed that inflation cooled down at a faster pace. This also increased confidence among investors that the progress in the disinflation process has resumed.

Fed policymakers also acknowledged the soft inflation as encouraging. However, officials said that they want to see inflation declining for months before announcing rate cuts.

Meanwhile, investors shift focus to the United States (US) Retail Sales data for May, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. The US Census Bureau is expected to report an increase in the Retail Sales by 0.3% after remaining flat in April.

On the Tokyo front, the Japanese Yen continues to face selling pressure as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has pushed plans for reducing bond-buying operations to the July meeting. This has deepened fears of limited scope for policy tightening.

This week, investors will focus on Japan’s National Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for May. Annual National CPI excluding Fresh Food is expected to have accelerated to 2.6% from the prior reading of 2.2%.