AUD/JPY expands gains after recovering intraday losses, stretches higher to near 97.70

• AUD/JPY extends its gains for the second successive session on Wednesday.
• Australia's ASX 200 tracked the Wall Street gains overnight, shrugging off the stronger US Inflation data.
• Japanese firms have agreed to the demands for pay hikes of 5.85% in 2024.

AUD/JPY reverses its intraday losses and trades in positive territory for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, reaching levels near 97.70 during the European session. The AUD/JPY cross initially faced challenges during the Asian trading hours as the Japanese Yen (JPY) strengthened on market speculation suggesting that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is considering an interest rate hike in March.

Moreover, the outcome of Japan's spring wage negotiations reveals that most firms have agreed to the wage rise demands put forth by the trade unions. Additionally, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed his desire to witness widespread wage hikes across the economy.

Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda mentioned scrutinizing the wage talk outcome, as well as other data and information from our hearings, in making policy decisions. Ueda will consider tweaking the negative rate, YCC, and other monetary easing tools if the sustained achievement of our price target comes into sight.

The Australian Dollar (AUD) received upward support on Wednesday on higher S&P/ASX 200 Index, which has risen for the second consecutive day, following gains on Wall Street overnight. However, lower commodities' prices might have put pressure on the Aussie Dollar.

Concerns about a decrease in demand from China have led to a decline in iron ore futures. Additionally, there has been an increase in maintenance activities on blast furnaces among mills this week, indicating a potential decline in hot metal output.