USD/JPY surges to 146.00 neighbourhood on dovish BoJ, sustained USD buying

The USD/JPY pair catches fresh bids during the early European session and hits a new 24-year high, with bulls now eyeing to reclaim the 146.00 round-figure mark.

The latest leg up follows comments from the Bank of Japan Governor Harihuko Kuroda, reiterating that they will patiently continue powerful monetary easing. During the post-meeting press conference, Kuroda added that there is no need to change forward guidance at present and negative rates are not having a big impact on financial institutions. This, in turn, is seen weighing heavily on the JPY and allowing the USD/JPY pair to build on its strong intraday rally from the 143.50 area.

The US dollar, on the other hand, climbs to a fresh 20-year peak and continues to draw support from a more hawkish stance adopted by the Federal Reserve. It is worth recalling that the Fed raised interest rates by another 75 bps on Wednesday and signalled that it will likely undertake more aggressive rate increases to cap inflation. This marks a big divergence in comparison to the BoJ's dovish outlook and supports prospects for an extension of the appreciating move for the USD/JPY pair.

That said, speculations of an intervention by the Japanese government, along with the prevalent risk-off mood, could limit losses for the safe-haven JPY and caps the upside for the USD/JPY pair. Against the backdrop of growing recession fears, the risk of a further escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to temper investors' appetite for riskier assets. Apart from this, the overbought RSI on the daily chart warrants cautions for bulls and before positioning for further gains.

Technical levels to watch