USD/JPY is up 20 pips today and trading at 145.30.
In all liklihood that will be the highest close in 20 years for USD/JPY and it’s the highest intraday trade since they intervened at 145.90.
The Ministry of Finance may be pressed to intervene again. The problem is that they’re fighting a fundamental battle. The US dollar is strengthening across the board in the aftermath of a strong non-farm payrolls report. The market is beginning to wonder if the Fed hiking to just under 5% will be enough to tame inflation.
The MOF has often pointed to ‘volatility’ rather than absolute price levels in its jawboning and intervention. We’ve been around 144.00 now for a month so certainly the one-way moves have been tamed.
But if they allow the pair to move to new highs, I suspect the market will quickly test 150.00. Domestically, the economic calendar is very light for Japan next week.
