Japanese Yen drifts to 159.45 lows against US Dollar, with intervention risks looming
Finance Japanese Yen drifts to 159.45 lows against US Dollar, with intervention risks looming The Japanese Yen (JPY) keeps drifting lower against the US Dollar (USD) on Wednesday. The USD/JPY pair ticks higher for the fourth consecutive day, reaching fresh one-month highs at 159.45, and nearing the key 160.00 level, considered the limit of tolerable Yen weakness for Japanese authorities. The market has ignored hawkish comments by Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda, who expressed his concerns about the second-round effects of inflation if the energy shock threatens wages, expectations, and price-setting behaviour. These comments support the view that the central bank will raise interest rates at its June 15 meeting. The positive impact on the Yen, however, has been offset by investors‘ concerns about the Japanese economy’s exposure to high Crude prices and the relatively lower Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yields. Markets will be attentive to a string of Japanese macroeconomic data on Friday, with particular interest in the Tokyo Consumer Prices Index figures, to confirm Junes BoJ decision. Core inflation figures are expected to have remained growing at a steady pace in May, while the Unemployment Rate is seen unchanged, and retail sales are expected to have eased in April. The US Dollar,