JPY soft as hawkish BoJ comms highlight importance of trade talks – Scotiabank

The Japanese Yen (JPY) is weak, down 0.5% against the US Dollar (USD) and underperforming all of the G10 currencies in relatively quiet trade overall, Scotiabank’s Chief FX Strategists Shaun Osborne and Eric Theoret report.

BoJ highlights importance of trade talks

“The yen’s weakness is being attributed to a speech from BoJ board member Tamura, where the policymaker’s hawkish tone was tempered by a suggestion that the central bank would be unlikely to raise rates while trade talks were underway.”

“The speech followed a relatively hawkish BoJ Summary of Opinions (minutes) release that hinted to the possibility to an inflation forecast upgrade and potential rate hike in July – depending on the outcome of trade talks with the US.”