USD/JPY marches beyond 132.00 as BoJ policy appears safe, Japan GDP, US inflation eyed

• USD/JPY picks up bids to renew intraday high as US Dollar cheers risk-off mood.
• Hopes of doves to keep the BoJ reins weigh on Yen amid sluggish yields.
• Upbeat US inflation expectations, hawkish Fed concerns keep buyers hopeful.
• Japan policymakers verdict on BoJ leader, Japan Q4 GDP and US CPI will be crucial for clear directions.

USD/JPY refreshes intraday high around 132.30 during early Monday in Europe. In doing so, the Yen pair reverses the previous week’s losses amid hopes of an easy money policy to prevail for long. Adding strength to the pair’s upside bias is the US Dollar’s demand amid a risk-off mood and also due to the hawkish bias surrounding the Federal Reserve (Fed), not to forget steady yields.

Talks surrounding Kazuo Ueda’s appointment as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor backed concerns over the ultra-easy monetary policy and favored the USD/JPY bulls afterward.

On the other hand, fears about the mystery objects flying over the US and China underpin the US Dollar’s haven demand and propel the USD/JPY prices. The US shot down nearly four such objects while China prepares to hit one such unidentified object while weighing on the market sentiment and fueling the DXY. That said, the US Dollar Index (DXY), was up 0.20% near 103.80 by the press time.

Elsewhere, the mildly hawkish Fed talks join Friday’s strong US Consumer Sentiment and US inflation expectations to offer extra strength to the USD/JPY prices, via US Dollar strength. During the weekend, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker pushed back the chatters of a Fed rate cut during 2023. However, the policymaker did mention, “Fed not likely to cut this year but may be able to in 2024 if inflation starts ebbing.”  His comments were mostly in line with Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s cautious optimism and hence challenge the US Dollar buyers.

Amid these plays, US stock futures fade the previous day’s corrective bounce while the Treasury bond yields remain sluggish around the multi-day high marked on Friday, which in turn helped the US Dollar Index (DXY) to grind higher after a two-week uptrend.

Moving ahead, the preliminary readings of Japan’s fourth quarter (Q4) Gross Domestic Product, up for publishing on Tuesday, will precede the Japanese policymakers’ official selection of the BoJ leaders to direct short-term USD/JPY moves. Following that, the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January will be crucial for short-term Yen pair directions.

Technical analysis

A daily closing beyond the 50-DMA, around 132.20 by the press time, appears necessary for the USD/JPY bulls to keep the reins.