- The Japanese Yen (JPY) rises after 3 days of losses
- BoJ January minutes showed discussions surrounding the pace of hikes
- The US Dollar (USD) falls against its major peers
- UK consumer confidence tumbles to a 4-year low
The US dollar Japanese yen (USD/JPY) exchange rate is falling after three days of gains. The pair rose 0.98% in the previous session, settling on Monday at 150.78. At 19:00 UTC, USD/JPY trades -0.63% lower at 149.84 and is in a range of 149.55 to 150.94.
The yen is rising as investors digest the minutes of the BoJ meeting at the start of the year. The minutes showed that policymakers discussed the pace of raising interest rates further after deciding to lift rates by 25 basis points to a 17-year high in the January meeting.
However, the minutes may be considered stale, given that the Bank of Japan met again just last week and policymakers left rates unchanged due to uncertainty surrounding the global economic outlook.
Looking ahead to the week, attention will be on Tokyo inflation, which is released on Thursday and is expected to show that prices eased slightly due to energy subsidy programs and stabilization in fresh food prices. Tokyo CPI is expected to remain at 1.9%.
The US Dollar is falling across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, is 0.05% lower at 104.21 at the time of writing, after four days of gains.
The US dollar is falling on Tuesday, dropping from a two-and-a-half-week high. Reports that US reciprocal tariffs scheduled to be implemented on April 2 could be narrower and less severe than originally feared are helping to ease inflation concerns. More targeted tariffs could allow the Fed to keep cutting interest rates, pulling the US dollar lower.
Meanwhile, U.S. consumer confidence has also fallen to its lowest level since 2021, falling for a fourth straight month in March. The US consumer confidence index fell 7.2 points to 92.9 this month, according to the Conference Board data. The survey highlighted growing concerns about the economic impact of President Trump’s trade tariff policies.