USD/JPY

Welcome to another edition of Forex Friday, a weekly report in which we highlight selected currency themes. In this week's edition, we will discuss the US dollar in light of the NFP beat, and ahead of next week's key macro events.

EUR/USD falls after German inflation and ahead of US jobs data. USD/JPY stabilises after yesterday's slump, US non-farm payroll data up next.

USD/JPY tumbled on Thursday on speculation the BOJ may move pre-emptively to lift interest rates before wage pressures have materialised. Such a move would be economically risky and go against recent BOJ statements.

This morning saw some big moves in USD/JPY and all other yen crosses. While these yen pairs all managed to bounce off their worst levels by mid-morning London session, they remained under intense pressure. The yen rally comes after BoJ Governor Ueda met Japanese Prime Minister Kishida earlier in the day, with investors anticipating a policy shift in Japan in the not-too-distant future.

Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda is not giving up on normalising monetary policy despite significant uncertainty over the outlook for the Japanese and global economies, putting USD/JPY under modest pressure on what’s been an otherwise quiet session in Asia.

USD/JPY bulls are defending support in the 147.00 area, but the pair is vulnerable to a big breakdown from here...

EUR/USD falls with rate cut bets in focus. USD/JPY falls to a 3-month low as geopolitical tensions rise.

With a host of inflation data from Europe and GDP data for the US, implied volatility has picked up to wake markets up from their post-Thanksgiving lull. Today we take a look at USD/JPY and EUR/USD for a potential setup.

We watched with bated breath to see if USD/CNH would break its 200-day average on Tuesday and pave the way for the next bout of US dollar weakness. Yet with that key level holding as support, it leaves room for some US dollar strength, a higher USD/JPY and weaker AUD/USD.

GBP/USD rises ahead of tomorrow’s Autumn budget. USD/JPY falls ahead of FOMC minutes.

There was a risk that the RBA’s minutes were more hawkish than their November statement had let on, and this certainly seems to be the case. And hawkish minutes alongside a lower USD/CNH and USD/JPY have helped AUD/USD test a new cycle high today. Can it now gun for 66?

EUR/USD bears continued to trim shorts while large speculators added to longs. Whilst this might not be a bullish bet on the strength of Europe, it may well be a bet against the US dollar. And with the 2-year note holding above key support and shorts being trimmed, it hints at lower yields and a weaker US dollar.

The Japanese yen has finally found some much needed support this week. It is all to do with the falls in global bond yields, and the unwinding of carry trades. US yields slumped earlier this week after US CPI fell more than expected, cementing expectations that the Fed (and other central banks) will no longer raise rates further

Once again, the 1-day implied volatility levels for EUR/USD and USD/JPY have blown out ahead of a busy calendar. Central bank members from the Fed, ECB, BOE and SNB will hit the wires, European GDP is also on tap ahead of the key US inflation report.

With the decline in the inflation rate seemingly stalling, a higher-than-expected inflation reading is likely to be more impactful to markets.

Crude oil falls as demand concerns weigh. USD/JPY rises to a yearly high.

USD/JPY is trading 40 pips away from multi-decade highs as upstream inflationary pressures in Japan are coming off hard. Perhaps that explains we've had no verbal intervention attempts from the government today?