Opened in Asia at Y82.32 and edged up to Y82.43 ahead of the BOJ announcement, but continued to be capped by exporter supply. The Central Bank left rates on hold and the asset buying program at Y65 trillion. Dollar subsequently crashed to lows of Y81.97 before encountering some solid bids. EUR/JPY picked up to Y108.66 from Y108.19, but collapsed to Y107.89 on the BOJ announcement before edging back up cautiously through Y108.00. Into Europe and USD/JPY extended gains on US names to Y82.40. The rate was given an added boost by custodial/model funds and M&A related buying, flushing out stops to a high of Y82.79. The M&A buying attibuted to Japan’s Asahi Kasei purchasing Zoll Medical Corp for $2.2bln. The rally stalled running into Asian sovereign supply, easing to Y82.60 and trade flat. The cross tracked USD/JPY with sharp gains to Y108.54 in early trade, climbing further to Y108.72 on Asian semi-official demand. Profit take sales and EUR/USD slippage pressed to Y108.40 ahead of NY.
EasyForexNews Research Team