The dollar-yen exchange rate is expected to see limited yen selling and dollar buying from Thursday night through Friday due to persistent concerns over currency intervention by Japanese monetary authorities. The currency pair is projected to trade within a range of 159.30 yen to 160.20 yen.

While the dollar-yen rate temporarily touched 160.09 yen in New York trading on Wednesday, the uptrend paused in the Tokyo market on Thursday. Having returned to levels seen on April 30, when the government and the Bank of Japan are believed to have conducted yen-buying intervention, anxieties over actual intervention are mounting.

Additionally, growing expectations for a rate hike at the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting scheduled for June 15-16 are likely to support the yen. Governor Kazuo Ueda stated in an afternoon speech on Wednesday that "there is a need to thoroughly discuss whether to raise interest rates," and on Thursday afternoon, Bloomberg News reported, citing multiple sources, that "the BOJ is considering raising its policy rate by 0.25 percentage points at this month's monetary policy meeting."

However, lingering uncertainty surrounding negotiations to end hostilities between the United States and Iran could easily trigger safe-haven dollar buying and expectations of higher oil prices. If the U.S. weekly initial jobless claims and the revised U.S. labor productivity index for the first quarter, both due tonight Japan time, show strong results, they will provide further support for the dollar.

Source: MINKABU PRESS

*Translated by generative AI. Click here for the original article.