USD/JPY: Japanese officials hoping for a weaker NFP report to ease upward pressure – MUFG

After briefly rising back above the 150.00 level and hitting an intra-day high of 150.16, USD/JPY then fell abruptly to an intra-day low of 147.43. It has encouraged speculation that Japan intervened to support the Yen. Economists at MUFG Bank analyze the pair’s outlook.

Japanese officials declined to confirm if intervened 

Japanese officials have declined to confirm if they intervened. Chief currency official Kanda instead continued to emphasize that they respond as always to excessive FX moves and are not ruling out any options regarding foreign exchange.

The release of the Nonfarm Payrolls report on Friday should prove more important in determining whether the US bond market sell-off and US Dollar rally extends further in the near term.

Japanese officials will be hoping for a weaker report to ease upward pressure on USD/JPY.