USD/JPY hits 5-mth high after BoJ holds rates

The Japanese yen continues its rapid descent and is sharply lower on Wednesday. In the North American session, USD/JPY is trading at 156.82, up 1.3% on the day. Earlier, the yen weakened to 157.14, its lowest level against the US dollar since July 22.

Bank of Japan maintains rates

The Bank of Japan didn’t have any surprises up its sleeve on Thursday as it maintained the benchmark interest rate at 0.25%. The BoJ has kept rates steady since July but has signaled that it intends to normalize policy and raise rates. The central bank has been guarded about the timing of a rate hike and there was some speculation that it might raise rates at Thursday’s meeting.

The decision to hold rates was not unanimous, with 8 members voting in favor and one member voting for a 25-basis point hike. The rate statement did not shed much light on the BoJ’s plans but Governor Ueda said at his press conference that the BoJ could afford to move slowly on raising rates since underlying inflation was only increasing at a “moderate pace”. The markets expect another rate hike in the first quarter of 2025.

Ueda also noted that there was uncertainty over the policies of the  incoming Trump administration. Trump has declared he will impose tariffs on US trading partners, which could affect global inflation. Interestingly, the BoJ holds its next meeting on Jan. 24, a day after Trump takes office.

Fed lowers rate cut forecast for 2024

The Federal Reserve’s quarter-point rate cut was widely expected but the market was surprised by the Fed’s updated rate-cut forecast. In September, the Fed projected four rate cuts in 2025 but this was halved to just two cuts at the Wednesday meeting. US stock markets were sharply lower in response but the US dollar shined and rose sharply on Wednesday against all the major currencies, including 0.85% against the yen.

At his follow-up press conference, Fed Chair Powell said he was “very optimistic” about the strength of the US economy but he was less rosy about inflation, which has stalled above the Fed’s 2% target. Powell said, “We have been moving sideways on 12-month inflation”, a signal that the Fed may take a pause from its easing cycle until inflation resumes its downswing.

USD/JPY Technical

• USD/JPY has pushed above resistance at 155.38 and 155.92 and is putting pressure on resistance at 156.98
• 154.32 and 153.78 are the next support levels

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