Opened in Asia at Y76.20 after hitting a 2012 low of Y76.03 in midday European trading yesterday. Comments from Fin Min Azumi and an uptick in US treasury yields prevented further losses. Further words overnight but no intervention has left the dollar still vulnerable to further downside forays. Stops are seen aligned for a break of Y76.00 ahead of some Y75.80 bids and a Y75.50 barrier. The pair has since traded a tight Y76.12-22 range. EUR/JPY was equally tight but helped to Y100.46 on the back of a EUR/USD bounce before slipping back to Y100.24. AUD/JPY built higher on the back of stronger Aussie trade data and firmer equities peaking at Y81.92 as a $1.0750 AUD barrier was flushed, before easing back to the low Y81.50’s. BOJ’s Shirakawa attributed the JPY strength to safe-haven demand rather than speculation; somewhat in contrast to Fin Min Azumi’s view on the USD/JPY fall, who stated that the MOF wouldn’t overlook short-term speculative moves in the FX market.
EasyForexNews Research Team