The Japanese yen rallied yesterday and retained its strength today ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting later this week. Risk appetite ruled the Forex market, but that did not deter the yen from rising higher against other most-traded currencies.
FX traders are waiting for the European Central Bank to start its bond-buying program that should alleviate some of the euro-region problems. Investors were especially happy to hear that German Chancellor Angela Merkel changed her stance and supported the plan. The future of the eurozone looked somewhat brighter and risk appetite ruled the market.
The yen did not pay attention to the market sentiment. Perhaps, expert traders considered the optimism to be short-lived and preferred to stick to safe assets. The Bank of Japan will hold its policy meeting on August 9, but analysts do not believe that the central bank would change its policy. Without an intervention from the BoJ, the yen will likely appreciate further.
USD/JPY was down from 78.26 to 78.18 as of 00:48 GMT today. EUR/JPY fell from 97.01 to 96.84 and GBP/JPY declined from 122.04 to 121.82.
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