The dollar clawed back roughly half of its two-session decline against the yen on Monday, with USD/JPY ending above 157.50 after yen buying in Tokyo had earlier pushed the pair through 157.00, its lowest level since September 18. The pair had started the day’s rise near 156.50.
Rate path in focus
The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 1.25 percent from 1 percent in September. Governor Ueda has said there is no need for back-to-back hikes, and a Bloomberg survey shows none of the economists polled expect a move at the Bank’s October decision, with most looking to December instead.
Previews suggest any dissent at Friday’s BoJ decision would come from board members Takata and Tamura, both seen favouring a hike. Tokyo’s October CPI and Japan’s September jobless rate are due Thursday at 23:30 GMT, ahead of the BoJ decision on Friday and a press conference from Ueda at 06:30 GMT.
Fed decision looms
Attention is also on the Federal Reserve, whose statement is due Wednesday at 18:00 GMT; the central bank is expected to hold its target range at 3.75-4.00 percent. US third-quarter growth figures and September PCE data follow on Thursday at 12:30 GMT.
Monday’s rise in USD/JPY recovered about half of the losses booked on October 22 and 23. By MacroHerald’s own measurement, the pair stood at 157.448 yen as of 00:31 GMT on 27 October. CFTC data for the week of 20 October showed speculators net long the yen at 69,878 contracts, up from 50,207 contracts a week earlier.
Related: Euro holds near 1.12 as traders weigh US inflation
Source: Bank of Japan | Data: Swissquote · CFTC
