USD JPY - FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS

23 Mei 2023

The US dollar has hit a fresh year to date high overnight against the yen at 138.87 as it continues to extend its advance from the low of 133.75 recorded on 11th May. Over that period the yen has been the worst performing G10 currency alongside the Scandi currencies of the Swedish krona and Norwegian krone which have declined by over 2% against the US dollar. The recent move higher in USD/JPY has coincided with the ongoing adjustment higher in US rates. 2-year and 10-year US government bond yields have closed higher for seven consecutive days which is the longest run of higher closing prices since September of last year. It was also a period of yen weakness when USD/JPY was breaking above the 140.00-level for the first time since the middle of 1998. According to the latest CFTC report, leveraged funds have been paring back the size of their short yen positions this month although they still remain close to levels from back in autumn of last year when USD/JPY hit its current cycle high. The BoJ’s ongoing reluctance to tighten monetary policy further in the near-term combined with recent adjustment higher in US rates has triggered renewed upward momentum for USD/JPY. The move higher in US rates was encouraged yesterday by reassuring comments following a meeting between President Biden and House speaker McCarthy on the debt ceiling. After the talks, House speaker McCarthy stated that “the tone was better than any other time we have had discussions”. Both President Biden and House leader McCarthy acknowledged that the talks had been productive although they have not yet reached an agreement. President Biden stated that “we reiterated once again that default is off the table and the only way to move forward is in good faith toward a bipartisan agreement”. House leader McCarthy expects to speak with President Biden on a daily basis until a deal has been reached. The developments support market expectations that a compromise agreement will be reached to raise the debt ceiling before the so-called “X-date”. If those expectations are seriously challenged in the coming weeks then it could trigger a squeeze of short yen positions and a sharp move lower in USD/JPY. At the same time, the move higher in US rates was encouraged yesterday by comments from Fed officials. St Louis Fed President Bullard stated that he is “thinking two more moves this year” to put enough downward pressure on inflation. He is a wellknown hawk and a non-voter on the FOMC this year. The hawkish comments from St Louis Fed President Bullard were partially offset by relatively more cautious comments from Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari who stated “we may have to go higher from here, but we may not raise rates quite as aggressively and as quickly as we have over the course of the past year”. He also believes it’s a close call as to whether the Fed raises rates further in June or skips that meeting. We would place more weight on his comments as he is a voter on the FOMC this year. June rate hike expectations have since edged higher again with the US rate market pricing in around 5bps of hikes.