- USD/JPY picked up bullish momentum and rose above 149.00.
- Strong US retail sales and jobless claims data will boost the US dollar.
- The US Dollar Index rose more than 0.5% on the day to above 103.00.
USD/JPY picked up bullish momentum in the US market on Thursday, breaking out of a one-week range. At the time of writing, the pair was trading a few pips above 149.00, up 1.1% on a daily basis.
US Dollar benefits from positive data
New strength in the US Dollar (USD) sparked a surge late on Thursday. US data showed that weekly new jobless claims fell from 234,000 to 227,000, and retail sales rose 1%, beating market expectations of a 0.3% increase. These data eased fears of a US recession, and the USD began to outperform its rivals. At the time of writing, the USD index was up 0.55% for the day, at 103.15.
Later in the session, investors will be focused on comments from Federal Reserve officials. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the market is now pricing in a 23.5% chance that the Fed will cut interest rates by 50 basis points, down from about 50% at the start of the week.
today’s us dollar price
The table below shows the percentage change of the US Dollar (USD) against the major listed currencies today. The US Dollar was strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | Australian Dollar | NZD | Swiss Franc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.51% | 0.10% | 1.13% | 0.09% | -0.08% | 0.35% | 0.87% | |
| EUR | -0.51% | -0.42% | 0.59% | -0.43% | -0.67% | -0.34% | 0.35% | |
| GBP | -0.10% | 0.42% | 1.01% | -0.01% | -0.25% | 0.09% | 0.87% | |
| JPY | -1.13% | -0.59% | -1.01% | -1.03% | -1.22% | -0.90% | -0.14% | |
| CAD | -0.09% | 0.43% | 0.00% | 1.03% | -0.18% | 0.10% | 0.88% | |
| Australian Dollar | 0.08% | 0.67% | 0.25% | 1.22% | 0.18% | 0.33% | 1.12% | |
| NZD | -0.35% | 0.34% | -0.09% | 0.90% | -0.10% | -0.33% | 0.78% | |
| Swiss Franc | -0.87% | -0.35% | -0.87% | 0.14% | -0.88% | -1.12% | -0.78% |
The heat map displays the percentage change between major currencies. The base currency is selected from the left column and the quote currency is selected from the top row. For example, if you select USD from the left column and move it along the horizontal line to Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
Frequently asked questions about the Japanese Yen
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the most traded currencies in the world. Its value is determined broadly by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by factors such as the Bank of Japan’s policies, the spread between Japanese and US bond yields, and traders’ risk sentiment.
The Bank of Japan’s movements are important for the yen, since one of its mandates is currency management. The BOJ would typically intervene directly in the currency market to weaken the yen, but often refrains from doing so due to political concerns with major trading partners. The BOJ’s current ultra-loose monetary policy, based on a massive economic stimulus package, has caused the yen to weaken against major currencies. This process has worsened in recent days due to the widening divergence between the BOJ’s and other major central banks’ policies, which have chosen to significantly raise interest rates to combat inflation at its highest in decades.
The Bank of Japan’s insistence on ultra-loose monetary policy has led to a growing divergence in policy with other central banks, particularly the U.S. Federal Reserve, which has helped to widen the gap between 10-year U.S. Treasury notes and Japanese government bonds, giving the U.S. dollar an edge over the Japanese yen.
The Japanese Yen is often seen as a safe investment, meaning that during times of market turmoil, investors are more likely to put their money into the Japanese Yen due to its reliability and stability. During times of volatility, the Japanese Yen tends to rise in value against other currencies that are considered riskier investments.
