EUR/JPY surges to near 153.50 as Eurozone PMI returns back in black

• EUR/JPY soars to near 153.50 on stronger-than-projected Eurozone PMI growth in January.
• The ECB is almost certain to cut interest rates on Thursday.
• The BoJ refrained from committing a pre-defined rate hike path.

The EUR/JPY pair rises sharply to near 153.50 in Friday’s European session. The asset strengthens on the back of strong appeal for the Euro (EUR) as the flash Eurozone HCOB Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for January has come in surprisingly stronger.

The HCOB PMI data, compiled by S&P Global, showed that the overall business activity expanded after contracting for two months. The Composite PMI, which gauges the overall private sector activity, advances to 50.2 from 49.6 in December. Economists expected the overall business activity to continue to contract but at a slower pace. The report also showed that strong business activity in the Euro area majorly came from the German economy, which also returned into the expansion, while, the French economy continued to decline.

Surprisingly upbeat Eurozone PMI data has fears of weakening economic outlook, however, it is unlikely to diminish firm market expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) will cut interest rates in the policy meeting on Thursday. The ECB is almost certain to cut its Deposit Facility rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 2.75%. Traders are price in three more interest rate cuts by the ECB in next three policy meetings.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Yen (JPY) weakens across the board as markets had already priced in a 25-basis points (bps) interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BoJ), which pushed borrowing rates higher to 0.5%. The BoJ has also revised inflation forecast higher, expects price pressures to remain above 2% until FY2026 amid confidence over firm wage outlook.

The BoJ didn’t offer cues about when and at which pace the central bank will raise interest rates further. "We don't have any preset idea,” BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said. He added that the central bank make a decision at each policy meeting by looking at “economic and price developments as well as risks”.