USD/JPY rises to near 156.60 as US Dollar Index refreshes weekly high
- USD/JPY gains to near 156.60 as the US Dollar rises despite dovish FOMC minutes.
- Fed policymakers seek to return to neutral policy stance to support labor market.
- BoJ officials signaled that the monetary policy will remain on the upward path.
The USD/JPY pair trades 0.2% higher to near 156.60 during the late Asian trading session on Wednesday. The pair gains as the US Dollar (USD) trades higher, following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes of the December policy meeting showed on Tuesday.
At the press time, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, rises to near 98.30, the highest level in a week.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.06% | 0.00% | 0.09% | 0.00% | 0.03% | 0.25% | 0.03% | |
| EUR | -0.06% | -0.04% | 0.04% | -0.05% | -0.03% | 0.20% | -0.03% | |
| GBP | -0.01% | 0.04% | 0.08% | -0.01% | 0.00% | 0.25% | 0.03% | |
| JPY | -0.09% | -0.04% | -0.08% | -0.08% | -0.06% | 0.17% | -0.04% | |
| CAD | -0.00% | 0.05% | 0.00% | 0.08% | 0.03% | 0.22% | 0.06% | |
| AUD | -0.03% | 0.03% | -0.00% | 0.06% | -0.03% | 0.23% | 0.00% | |
| NZD | -0.25% | -0.20% | -0.25% | -0.17% | -0.22% | -0.23% | -0.22% | |
| CHF | -0.03% | 0.03% | -0.03% | 0.04% | -0.06% | -0.01% | 0.22% |
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 US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
The US Dollar attracts bids even as FOMC minutes showed that officials stressed the need for further interest rate cuts, citing United States (US) labor market risks.
Most participants noted moving toward a more neutral policy stance would help forestall possible job market deterioration,” FOMC minutes.
Fed policymakers have argued in favor of easing the monetary policy further despite reducing interest rates by 75 basis points (bps) to 3.50%-3.75% in 2025.
According to the CME FedWatch tool, the Fed will cut interest rates by at least 50 basis points (bps) in 2026.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Yen (JPY) faces selling pressure as traders doubt that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will tighten its monetary policy in the near-term, given government’s support for higher fiscal spending to stimulate economic growth. However, BoJ officials have stated that there will be more interest rate cuts as firms’ behaviour on pay and wage growth appears to be changing.
Japanese Yen FAQs
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the world’s most traded currencies. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the differential between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.
One of the Bank of Japan’s mandates is currency control, so its moves are key for the Yen. The BoJ has directly intervened in currency markets sometimes, generally to lower the value of the Yen, although it refrains from doing it often due to political concerns of its main trading partners. The BoJ ultra-loose monetary policy between 2013 and 2024 caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks. More recently, the gradually unwinding of this ultra-loose policy has given some support to the Yen.
Over the last decade, the BoJ’s stance of sticking to ultra-loose monetary policy has led to a widening policy divergence with other central banks, particularly with the US Federal Reserve. This supported a widening of the differential between the 10-year US and Japanese bonds, which favored the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen. The BoJ decision in 2024 to gradually abandon the ultra-loose policy, coupled with interest-rate cuts in other major central banks, is narrowing this differential.
The Japanese Yen is often seen as a safe-haven investment. This means that in times of market stress, investors are more likely to put their money in the Japanese currency due to its supposed reliability and stability. Turbulent times are likely to strengthen the Yen’s value against other currencies seen as more risky to invest in.
Author
Sagar Dua
FXStreet
Sagar Dua is associated with the financial markets from his college days. Along with pursuing post-graduation in Commerce in 2014, he started his markets training with chart analysis.
