USD/JPY ticks higher ahead of BoJ meeting

The Japanese yen continues to lose ground on Thursday. In the European session USD/JPY is trading at 155.61, up 0.17%. Earlier, the yen dropped to a 34-year low of 155.74.

Friday will be a busy day out of Japan. Tokyo Core CPI, which excludes food, is a key leading indicator of nationwide inflation trends. It is expected to drop to 2.2% in April, down from 2.4% in March. The Tokyo core-core rate, which excludes food and energy, is also expected to fall, from 2.9% in March to 2.7% in April. The March reading marked the first time that the core-core rate fell below 3% since November 2022.

Inflation played a key factor in the Bank of Japan’s historic decision in March to raise interest rates out of negative territory. The BoJ wants to see service inflation and wage growth to rise in order to ensure that inflation remains sustainable at the 2% target.

BoJ expected to stand pat

The Bank of Japan meets on Friday as the Japanese yen continues to lose ground. The yen has lost about 10.4% against the US dollar in 2024 and this sharp descent in such a short period has set off alarm bells in Tokyo. The BoJ’s tightening in March hasn’t stopped the bleeding, as the BoJ has said that it will maintain an accommodative policy and the US/Japan rate differential remains hasn’t narrowed as the Fed has delayed rate cuts.

The BoJ is expected to maintain policy settings at the meeting but Governor Ueda may sound hawkish in order to provide some support for the yen. The meeting could turn out to be a non-event but the threat of intervention from the Ministry of Finance is sure to be on the minds of investors.

The US releases the initial estimate for GDP for the first quarter. The market estimate stands at 2.5% y/y, compared to 3.4% in Q4 2023. The US economy has been robust and rising inflation has not only delayed rate cuts but there is even talk that the Fed could raise rates in order to put the brakes on inflation.

USD/JPY technical

• USD/JPY tested support at 155.30 earlier. Below, there is support at 154.13.

• There is resistance at 155.96 and 157.13.