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ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: BOJ leaves its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged

Date:

The Bank of Japan announcement:

Other

The
focus of the session was the response of Asian markets to the Federal
Open Market Committee (FOMC) (expected) rate hike and higher ‘dot
plot’. See the US-time session Wrap, linked in the points above,
for a recap ICYMI.

The
summary of market moves is that almost everything dropped, except the
USD:

  • US
    equity indexes extended their losses on Globex trade
  • Regional
    equities here fell
  • Gold
    fell
  • FX
    against the dollar fell pretty much across the board. GBP/USD, for
    example, hit a 37 year low)the Bank of England policy decision is
    coming up in a few hours, previews linked above also).

The
People’s Bank of China set its USD/CNY reference rate at its
highest USD/CNY since early August 2020 (i.e. weakest mid-rate for
the onshore yuan).

As
we headed into the Bank of Japan policy announcement (if you are new
to BOJ policy statements there is no set time for the announcement)
USD/JPY traded higher and sat around 144.50, just shy of its recent
top.

The
BOJ announced no change in policy, as was widely expected. USD/JPY
spiked above 145, almost to 145.50 but dropped back under 145.00 just
as quickly. While there was no sign of Bank of Japan intervention in
the market there were signs of large Pension funds and or
exporters hitting USD/JPY quite hard, if so this is likely at the
request of authorities. Large Japanese firms (Japan Inc.) tend to
have very close relationships with the Japanese government.

As
I post this update
USD/JPY
is threatening 145 again:

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