USD/JPY declines to near 154.00 even though US Dollar ticks up

• USD/JPY falls to near 154.00 despite the US Dollar remaining firm.
• Donald Trump’s policies are expected to boost US inflation and economic growth.
• BoJ Ueda didn’t commit to an interest rate hike move for December.

The USD/JPY pair slides to near 154.00 in Thursday’s European session. The asset weakens even though the US Dollar (USD) edges higher, with the US Dollar Index (DXY) rising to near 106.70. The USD Index strives to revisit the yearly high of 107.00 as investors expect that there will be fewer interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve (Fed) in its current policy-easing cycle.

Fed’s data-dependent approach is expected to refrain it from cutting interest rates aggressively as market experts project a rebound in the United States (US) inflation and see economic growth accelerating, given that President-elected Donald Trump’s victory in both houses will allow him to implement his economic agenda smoothly.

Trump vowed to raise import tariffs universally by 10% and lower taxes, a move that would not allow the Fed to go for deeper rate cuts. For the December meeting, there is a 56% probability that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.25%-4.50%, which has been diminished from 72% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Global brokerage firm Nomura expects the Fed to pause the policy-easing cycle in December. "We currently expect tariffs will drive realized inflation higher by the summer, and risks are skewed towards an earlier and more prolonged pause,” analysts at Nomura said.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Yen (JPY) performs strongly even though Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda refrained from committing to an interest rate hike in the December meeting but kept the option on the table in his commentary at a Europlace Financial Forum in Tokyo in early Thursday.

“We decide monetary policy meeting by meeting on basis of information that becomes available up to the meeting” Kazuo Ueda said and further added, “There's still a month to go till next policy meeting, there will be more information available by then.”

Japanese Yen FAQs

What key factors drive the Japanese Yen?

The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the world’s most traded currencies. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the differential between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.

How do the decisions of the Bank of Japan impact the Japanese Yen?

One of the Bank of Japan’s mandates is currency control, so its moves are key for the Yen. The BoJ has directly intervened in currency markets sometimes, generally to lower the value of the Yen, although it refrains from doing it often due to political concerns of its main trading partners. The BoJ ultra-loose monetary policy between 2013 and 2024 caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks. More recently, the gradually unwinding of this ultra-loose policy has given some support to the Yen.

How does the differential between Japanese and US bond yields impact the Japanese Yen?

Over the last decade, the BoJ’s stance of sticking to ultra-loose monetary policy has led to a widening policy divergence with other central banks, particularly with the US Federal Reserve. This supported a widening of the differential between the 10-year US and Japanese bonds, which favored the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen. The BoJ decision in 2024 to gradually abandon the ultra-loose policy, coupled with interest-rate cuts in other major central banks, is narrowing this differential.

How does broader risk sentiment impact the Japanese Yen?

The Japanese Yen is often seen as a safe-haven investment. This means that in times of market stress, investors are more likely to put their money in the Japanese currency due to its supposed reliability and stability. Turbulent times are likely to strengthen the Yen’s value against other currencies seen as more risky to invest in.