The pair opened at Y118.55 in NY Friday having fallen steadily from an Asia high of Y119.21 to a European low of Y118.05 ahead of Sunday’s Japanese election with traders expecting a comfortable victory for present PM Abe, with only the size of the majority up for debate. The sharp slippage to the day’s low followed newswire reports that BoJ is set to reject adding stimulus to offset lower oil prices, but had recovered to Y118.58 ahead of the NY open. Euro-yen traded Y147.54 having tracked dollar-yen within a Y147.73-Y146.96 range and in early NY trading both pairs edged lower before finding support at Y118.28 and Y147.29, but recovered to opening levels in subdued trading. The yen was already weakening on gently rising UST yields but was given a further boost on stronger Uni of Michigan Conf data, leading to a period of volatility as the pairs rose quickly to Y119.08 and a daily high of Y148.18. However markets remained focused on lower oil prices and UST yields, along with negative stocks led to renewed yen demand and the pairs fell back hitting Y118.21 and Y147.49 before finding a base. A final rally as UST yields edged higher saw pairs close Y118.74 & Y147.98.
