Japanese Yen gathers strength amid intervention fears
The USD/JPY pair loses traction to around 160.25 during the Asian trading hours on Thursday. The Japanese Yen (JPY) edges higher against the US Dollar (USD) amid intervention fears from Japanese authorities. Traders await the preliminary reading of the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter (Q1) and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index inflation report for March, which are due later on Thursday. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.75% on Tuesday, as widely expected. Governor Kazuo Ueda signaled readiness to raise rates to fight broader inflation, but the JPY barely moved. “I dont expect the situation of negative real interest rates to change,” said Sho Suzuki, market analyst at Matsui Securities in Tokyo. “So I believe there is a high likelihood that the yen will remain weak,” he added. While no formal intervention has been confirmed this week, Japanese officials are on high alert for currency intervention as the Japanese Yen hovers near the critical level. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama highlighted a “high sense of urgency” regarding speculative and weak-JPY moves driven by Middle East tensions. On the USDs front, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday held the interest rates in