Yen jumps on report of BoJ appointment

It has been a busy day for the Japanese yen, which jumped as much as 1.1% today before paring most of those gains. In the European session, USD/JPY is trading at 131.04, down 0.37%.

Report says BoJ has chosen next governor

The Japanese yen posted sharp gains after a Nikkei report that Kazua Ueda would be selected as the Bank of Japan’s next governor. Ueda is a former member of BoJ’s policy board and will replace Haruhiko Kuroda in early April. The yen’s gains, although only lasting a short time, indicate that Ueda is expected to take a more hawkish stance than Kuroda, who was the architect of an ultra-loose monetary policy that has largely remained in place even while other major banks have been hiking rates to tackle inflation.

The question of who will become the next BoJ Governor has resulted in volatility for the yen. Earlier this week, a report that Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya had been approached for the position sent the yen lower for a brief time, as Amamiya is considered a dove. Amamiya declined the offer and if the latest report is accurate, things should get very interesting under the helm of the hawkish Ueda.

US unemployment claims rose for the first time in six weeks, from 183,000 to 196 thousand, which was above the consensus of 190,000. Still, this marked a fourth week of claims below the 200,000 level. The four-week moving average, which smooths out much of the week-to-week volatility, actually edged lower to 189,250. This is an indication that the labour market remains tight, despite reports of mass layoffs by Amazon, Facebook and other large companies.

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USD/JPY Technical

• USD/JPY tested support at 130.71 earlier. The next support line is 129.12
• There is resistance at 132.23 and 133.27

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