Japanese Yen Weakens Near One-Week Low Against USD
The Japanese Yen (JPY) remained in strong demand for the third straight day on Wednesday (February 12) amid concerns about the economic impact of US President Donald Trump’s levies on commodity imports and reciprocal tariffs. Additionally, a positive risk tone was seen as another factor undermining the safe-haven JPY. This, along with the emergence of some US Dollar (USD) buying, helped the USD/JPY pair to hold on to its strong gains above mid-153.00s heading into the European session.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell’s hawkish remarks on Tuesday dampened hopes for a sharp narrowing in the US-Japan interest rate differential. This further contributed to driving flows away from the lower-yielding JPY, though bets that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will raise interest rates again warrant some caution for bearish traders. Traders might also refrain from placing any aggressive bets around the USD/JPY pair and prefer to wait for the release of US consumer inflation figures.
Source: FXStreet