USD/JPY ticks higher to near 152.00, Fed Powell’s testimony in focus

• USD/JPY trades sideways around 152.00 as Fed Powell’s testimony takes center stage.
• Fed Powell is unlikely to provide cues about the timeline from when the central bank could resume the policy expansion cycle.
• Yen’s rally appears to have stalled, which was based on BoJ's hawkish bets.

The USD/JPY pair inches higher to near 152.00 in Tuesday’s European session but trades inside Monday’s trading range, which suggests a sideways trend. The pair consolidates as investors await Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony before Congress at 15:00 GMT.

Investors will look for cues about how long the Fed will hold interest rates in the current range of 4.25%-4.50%. Jerome Powell is not expected to provide any timeline about when the Fed could resume its policy-easing cycle, which it paused in January.

In the January meeting, Jerome Powell said that monetary policy adjustments would become appropriate only after policymakers see “real progress in inflation or at least some weakness in the labor market”.

Investors would also like to know the impact of the 25% tariff imposition on imports of steel and aluminum by United States (US) President Donald Trump, which will come into effect on March 12, on inflation and the economy. While, Powell will likely say that it is too early to project.

However, market participants expect that Trump’s tariffs agenda will be inflationary for the US economy.

Meanwhile, a month-long upside move in the Japanese Yen (JPY) appears to have paused for a while. The Japanese Yen remained firm in January on expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is on track to narrow rate differentials with other central banks. BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda and Deputy Governor Himino have signaled the possibility of another interest rate hike if the economy and prices perform in line with the central bank's projections.