The yen strengthened in Tokyo trading on Oct. 20 as the dollar’s late-session quote fell from its morning level, adding a currency-market signal ahead of Japan’s next inflation release.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) quoted the dollar at ¥158.07–¥158.09 at 4 a.m. ET (08:00 UTC), compared with ¥158.52–¥158.53 at 8 p.m. ET on Oct. 19 (00:00 UTC Oct. 20). USD/JPY expresses the value of one dollar in yen, so the lower reading means the dollar bought fewer yen. The BOJ’s published range for the day was ¥158.04–¥158.60.
FXStreet published its account after the BOJ quote and attributed the view to United Overseas Bank (UOB) Senior Technical Strategist Quek Ser Leang. It reported that Quek considered ¥158.80 possible within 24 hours but did not expect USD/JPY to test ¥159.05.
For one to three weeks, FXStreet reported a UOB range of ¥157.50–¥159.05. The BOJ’s daily band sat within it; its published rates do not cover every trade across the 24-hour market. The BOJ’s range spanned ¥0.56, compared with ¥1.55 for the reported UOB view. Investing.com quoted the pair at ¥158.46 on Oct. 19, also within the band, as noted in EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of the reported UOB outlook.
The BOJ’s overnight call-rate guideline is around 1.25%, compared with the Federal Reserve’s target range of 3.75%–4%. That puts the U.S. range 2.5 to 2.75 percentage points above the Japanese guideline. In September, the BOJ cited yen depreciation among factors behind high producer-price inflation. Separately, it said price pressure between businesses had generally begun reaching consumers.
Japan’s Statistics Bureau schedules the September consumer price index (CPI) release for 7:30 p.m. ET Oct. 22 (23:30 UTC), or 8:30 a.m. JST Oct. 23. The BOJ’s next policy meeting is scheduled for Oct. 29–30 in Japan.
