USD/JPY snaps eight-day uptrend near 148.50 amid looming Japan intervention

• USD/JPY retreats from intraday high, prints the first daily loss in nine around 32-year high.
• Japan PM Kishida assures taking steps to limit speculative FX moves, begin search for replacing BOJ Governor Kuroda.
• Pullback in yields, light calendar tease sellers around multi-year high.

USD/JPY bulls take a breather at the highest levels since 1990, printing mild losses near 148.50 during the early hours of Monday’s European session. In doing so, the yen pair prints the first daily loss in nine amid fears of Japan government’s intervention, as well as amid the Treasury bond yields’ retreat.

Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida mentioned that they “will take steps against speculative FX moves as needed.” Japan PM Kishida also added that rapid forex moves are undesirable.

Earlier in the day, the Japanese leader mentioned “Will consider a successor to BOJ Governor Kuroda, taking into account monetary policy foreseeability, coordination with the government.”

With this, Japan’s Kishida indirectly strikes the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) easy money policies and suggests a dislike for the USD/JPY run-up.

Also exerting downside pressure on the USD/JPY prices could be the sluggish US Treasury bond yields and the broad US dollar pullback amid a sluggish start to the week.

Elsewhere, cautious optimism about the UK’s economy, due to the latest shuffle in the PM’s team, as well as the absence of the market’s wagers on the Fed’s 1.0% rate hike also keep the USD/JPY sellers hopeful at the multi-year high.

It should be noted that the Japanese intervention appears imminent and can trigger the much-needed pullback from the highest levels since 1990. However, the pace of the fall depends upon the size and timing of meddling. Even so, the divergence between the monetary policies of the Fed and BOJ can keep the USD/JPY bulls hopeful.

Technical analysis

A clear pullback from the three-month-old ascending resistance line, at 149.10 by the press time directs USD/JPY sellers towards a three-week-old ascending support line, at 146.30 as we write.