Yen lagged broader USD shifts through Tuesday. USD/JPY tracks near 149.75/80 in early Wednesday dealings, losing a little bit of ground versus the USD for Tuesday's session. All the other majors have rallied against the USD, led by the EUR (up over 1.25%). Broader stagflationary concerns for the US economy weighed on dollar sentiment.
- USD/JPY broke below 148.60 support during Tuesday trade, a level that had been building in significance. Spot traded as low as 148.10 but bounced back ahead of the APAC crossover, tracking back towards 150.00 in latest dealings.
- Sentiment has been impacted by late US Tuesday comments from US Commerce Secretary Lutnick, who hinted tariff relief/compromise with Canada and Mexico could be announced Wednesday in the US during a Fox News interview. This has aided CAD and MXN sentiment and broader risk appetite. US yields also spiked late in US trade, the 10yr yield back to 4.25%, after touching 4.10% earlier in Tuesday trade.
- This moves have seen the traditional yen safe underperform through the latter stages of Tuesday US trade and early Wednesday Asia Pac trade. On the upside for USD/JPY, key short-term resistance has been defined at 151.30, the Mar 3 high. Clearance of this level is required to signal a base.
- Locally today we have the final Feb reads for the Jibun bank PMIs (services and composite). We also have a speech from Deputy Governor Uchida.
- In the option expiry space note the following for NY cut later: Y147.90-00($702mln), Y148.50($505mln), Y149.00($720mln), Y151.00-10($1.0bln), Y151.85-00($1.0bln).