In the Tokyo foreign exchange market on the 31st, the dollar-yen pair was trading at around \159.61 per dollar as of 3:00 p.m., approximately 16 sen lower against the dollar and higher against the yen compared to 5:00 p.m. the previous day. The euro was trading at around \182.99 per euro, approximately 71 sen lower against the euro and higher against the yen.

The Wall Street Journal's online edition reported on the same day that U.S. President Trump told aides he was prepared to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz remained closed. This triggered unwinding of safe-haven dollar buying, putting downward pressure on the dollar-yen pair. In the afternoon, the dollar-yen pair temporarily softened to the \159.40s.

In the morning, the pair rose to the \159.90s at one point. Amid lingering uncertainty over the Middle East situation, intermittent dollar buying and yen selling continued, pushing up the dollar-yen pair. However, concerns about yen-buying intervention risk by the government and the Bank of Japan ahead of the key \160 level capped gains. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama's remarks warning against yen depreciation at a post-cabinet meeting press conference also weighed on the dollar-yen pair. Looking ahead, market participants gradually adopted a wait-and-see stance ahead of the U.S. Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) release during U.S. trading hours on the 31st and the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey scheduled for release on April 1st.

The euro was trading at around $1.1464 per euro against the dollar, approximately $0.0033 lower against the euro and higher against the dollar.

Source: MINKABU PRESS