The pair closed in NY Tuesday at Y102.52 after rate had pulled back from an intraday high of Y102.89 to Y102.26, as markets reacted to less than hawkish comments from Fed Bullard and Dudley ahead of today’s Bernanke testimony and FOMC Minutes, before recovering into the close. Rate eased to Y102.35 in early Asia only to bounce back in Tokyo trade as fix demand emerged to lift rate to Y102.65. US names were noted stand out sellers in the move up, the rally mainly driven by Japanese demand. BOJ left policy unchanged but any mention of JGB yields was a noted omission turning focus on to Kuroda’s press conference at 3.30pm JST. Dollar-yen eased to Y102.35 again post BOJ but regional Japanese banks were stand out buyers into the dip allowing rate to recover to Y102.60 into Europe. Offers noted between Y102.70/103.00 with stops above. Bids seen into Y102.00 with US system stops sub Y101.80. Talk in Asia makes reference to a large Y104.00 digital option due to roll off May30. Euro-yen broke above the NY high at Y132.40 to Y132.69, missing out on a retest of recent highs at Y132.77. Rate drifted lower, settling between Y132.30/50 through the Asian afternoon and into Europe.
