ALBAWABA - The Japanese Yen momentarily dipped to 160.03 versus the dollar on Monday, the worst since April 1990, when it reached 160.15, before swinging back to settle around 156.75 per dollar to hint at a possible intervention.
The Yen’s rally by more than 2% after falling as low as 1.2% to 160.17 per dollar is the largest trading range since late 2022 according to Bloomberg, causing the Japanese banks to resort towards serious dollar-selling involvement for the first time in the last year and a half.
The big shift kicks off what may be a hectic week for forex investors, with a Federal Reserve meeting closing on Wednesday, critical US payrolls information due Friday, and European inflation data announcement during the week as Reuters reports.
It appears that some form of intervention to support the Yen has occurred... pic.twitter.com/mjE5QToNUN
— Liz Young (@LizYoungStrat) April 29, 2024
“Today’s JPY volatility may reflect the skittishness of markets amid thin liquidity. We will unlikely receive comments from Japanese officials today because Japan is on holiday,” The Commonwealth Bank of Australia said according to CNBC, adding that The Japanese Ministry of Finance is anticipated to release market intervention figures for the period March 28 to April 26 on Tuesday.
The Yen has been continuously declining for a period of over three years, losing a little over a third of its value versus the dollar since the beginning of 2021, according to Yahoo Finance, adding that a weaker Yen boosts the cost of imports, increases the threat of inflation, and presses families while strengthening the country’s exports on the other hand.
