- The Japanese Yen has been under pressure as investors expect the BoJ’s prolonged hold on interest rates.
- Iran conflicts seem to have jeopardized BoJ rate hike plans.
- Investors shift focus to the US NFP data for February releasing in the North American session.
The Japanese Yen (JPY) trades lower against its major currency peers, with the USD/JPY pair rising to near 157.75, in the late Asian trade on Friday. The Japanese currency is under pressure as market participants expect the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to hold interest rates steady for a prolonged period amid conflicts in the Middle East involving the United States (US), Israel, and Iran.
Japanese Yen Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies today. Japanese Yen was the weakest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.10% | -0.07% | 0.08% | -0.08% | -0.35% | -0.14% | -0.07% | |
| EUR | 0.10% | 0.02% | 0.18% | 0.02% | -0.27% | -0.04% | 0.03% | |
| GBP | 0.07% | -0.02% | 0.17% | -0.02% | -0.29% | -0.06% | 0.00% | |
| JPY | -0.08% | -0.18% | -0.17% | -0.16% | -0.44% | -0.23% | -0.15% | |
| CAD | 0.08% | -0.02% | 0.02% | 0.16% | -0.28% | -0.07% | 0.02% | |
| AUD | 0.35% | 0.27% | 0.29% | 0.44% | 0.28% | 0.22% | 0.29% | |
| NZD | 0.14% | 0.04% | 0.06% | 0.23% | 0.07% | -0.22% | 0.07% | |
| CHF | 0.07% | -0.03% | -0.00% | 0.15% | -0.02% | -0.29% | -0.07% |
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 Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent JPY (base)/USD (quote).
On Wednesday, BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda warned that rising oil prices due to the Iran conflict would worsen terms of trade for Japan and put “downward pressure on its economy and prompt the underlying inflation”. Ueda stressed supporting wage growth for achieving the sustainable BoJ’s price target.
The JPY struggles to attract bids even as Japan’s Finance Minister (FM) Satsuki Katayama has warned of intervention. On Wednesday, Katayama said that the administration is closely tracking FX movements with a “strong sense of urgency”.
Meanwhile, the USD/JPY pair trades higher despite the US Dollar (USD) trading with slight caution ahead of the release of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for February. As of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades marginally down to near 99.00.
The US NFP report is expected to show that the economy created 59K fresh jobs, significantly lower than 130K in January. The Unemployment Rate is seen steady at 4.3%.
Investors will closely monitor the US official employment data to get fresh cues on the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy outlook.
