Japanese yen holds near 159.5 per dollar as traders watch BOJ
The Japanese yen trades around 159.5 per dollar on Wednesday, remaining range-bound for more than a week after unwinding about half of late-July joint intervention gains.
The Japanese yen traded around 159.5 per dollar on Wednesday, remaining range-bound for more than a week now after giving back about half of the gains made following the joint intervention by Tokyo and Washington at the end of July.
The currency continues to face persistent weakness due to wide interest rate differentials, growing fiscal concerns and elevated energy and import costs.
On the monetary policy front, traders are increasingly speculating on a Bank of Japan interest rate hike in September to support the yen and curb inflation.
Japan’s 10-year bond yield reached 30-year highs this week, reflecting expectations of an imminent BOJ rate increase and mounting fiscal concerns.
Meanwhile, the latest data showed core machinery orders in Japan jumped 9.7% in June, exceeding forecasts and pointing to stronger capital spending among companies.