The Japanese Yen was the worst performing Asian currency against the US Dollar on Monday. It was mostly building on fundamental themes that weakened it last week.
The past 24 hours were quiet, given a lack of prominent economic event risk, allowing traders to digest and continue strategizing following the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
On Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the need to continue hiking rates in a bid to fight the highest inflation in 40 years. He also told the world that some economic pain might be involved in doing so.
Following these announcements, the markets have increased their surging rates expectations and have begun to strategize, eating away at pivot forecasts for 2023.
This brings us back to the Japanese Yen. At this point, the Bank of Japan is the lone standout amongst its G10 counterparts as a dove. The dovish Bank of Japan is a hindrance to JPY after Jackson Hole.
Throughout the past week, the market was focused on a more hawkish Fed, leaving the JPY vulnerable. Also, the Asian-pacific markets were offline during the Jackson Hole symposium. The currency pair’s rise on Monday occurred during the APAC trading session as investors of the news began catching up with the news.