The Japanese Yen edged higher against the US Dollar in a flight to save haven currencies after a rout in global equity markets. Also giving some FX traders the jitters are upcoming policy meetings by several major central banks, specifically the Federal Reserve Bank, Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan, all of which take place next week.
As reported at 10:51 am (BST) in London, the USD/JPY was trading at 102.339 Yen, down 0.02%; in today’s trading, the pair has ranged from a low of 101.9200 Yen to a peak of 102.6100 Yen. The EUR/JPY is down at 115.1277 Yen, down 0.05%. The CAD/JPY is also lower at 77.5561 Yen, down 0.03%.
Outlook for BOJ and Fed Still a Question
While analysts say that the SNB and the BoE are not expected to make any changes to policy, uncertainty arises over the decisions of the Fed, which is considering tightening, and the BOJ, which is still looking to weaken the Yen. Some BOJ insiders believe that the central bank could move its focus from QE to once again lowering interest rates deeper into negative territory. The issue is that the BOJ has very few viable options left and that could lead Governor Kuroda to push for more fiscal policy measures.