The pair started the week at Y118.96 after trading a NY range of Y118.17 to Y119.09. The pair extends pullback lower from recent high of Y121.85 (Dec8), after Japan’s ruling party secured more than two-thirds seats in the lower house. The spot collapsed to session low of Y117.78 from session high of Y119.09 on back of election results, before the Tankan report release. The rate spiked to Y119.06 after a mixed Tankan report before a recovery to Y118.49 and rebounds to Y118.66 last. Weaker Nikkei also weighed on dollar-yen amid bigger swings on Monday as liquidity thins out with Christmas holidays approaching. Demand on approach at Y117.50 with option expiry on Monday worth $754mn, while above there’s reported option expiry on Monday at Y118.75-80 worth $1.17bn. The euro-yen opened at Y148.32 after a NY range of Y147.29 to Y148.18, with early demand the rate was lifted to session high of Y148.45 before plummeting to session low of Y146.84, guided by weaker dollar-yen. But the cross spiked to Y148.24 after a mixed Tankan report before recovery to Y147.49 and bounces to Y147.63 last amid poor liquidity. Reported medium offers at Y148.50 capped the cross while demand is noted at Y146.85/80
