ForexLive European FX news wrap: USD/JPY cools as Japan intervention warnings grow

Headlines:

• USD/JPY nudges lower as Japanese authorities meet
• Japan’s MOF, FSA, and BOJ to hold meeting to discuss financial markets
• Japan top currency diplomat Kanda: Recent yen moves are not reflecting fundamentals
• Japan finance minister Suzuki keeps mum when asked about stealth FX intervention
• Japan finance minister Suzuki reiterates that will take decisive action if needed on FX
• Japan chief Cabinet secretary says rapid FX moves are undesirable
• BOJ governor Ueda says FX moves have big impact on economy, prices
• BOJ governor Ueda says won’t rule out any options if economic, price developments worsen
• BOJ’s Tamura: It is desirable for FX to move stably reflecting economic fundamentals
• Spain March preliminary CPI +3.2% vs +3.2% y/y expected
• France March consumer confidence 91 vs 90 expected
• Switzerland March UBS investor confidence 11.5 vs 10.2 prior

Markets:

• JPY leads, CHF lags on the day
• European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.4%
• US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 4.223%
• Gold up 0.8% to $2,196.53
• WTI Crude down 0.6% to $81.13
• Bitcoin up 0.4% to $70,087

The main focus on the session was the Japanese yen, as it fell early on in Asia to its lowest since 1990 against the dollar.

USD/JPY touched a high of 151.97 before backing off slightly to around 151.60-70 levels as we got into European trading. Then, came a barrage of comments from Japanese officials but it did little to move the needle.

Japan top currency diplomat Kanda then came out to say that a meeting between the MOF, FSA, and BOJ was not needed yet. But as the verbal intervention lacked effectiveness, they had to resort to that as a meeting was called with less than 15 minutes warning.

That saw the yen gain some ground with USD/JPY falling from 151.70 to 151.15 initially. Kanda’s remarks were as you’d expect, just added jawboning and that saw USD/JPY bounce back to 151.40. But as the dust settles and the potential for Tokyo to act going into the Easter break later this week, we are seeing USD/JPY bulls favour caution as the pair now falls to 151.05 on the day.

Outside of that, the major currencies space was quite a bore. The dollar traded more steadily across the board with light changes to note. That makes the yen the only notable mover, with CHF/JPY also falling to its lowest levels for the year amid a “divergence” in policy stance.

In other markets, equities are looking to bounce back after the late setback in Wall Street yesterday. European indices are higher again alongside US futures during the session. Meanwhile, gold is once again looking poised after a rejection at $2,200 yesterday. Is it third time the charm for the precious metal in March trading?

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.