USD/JPY softens as Middle East de-escalation hopes weigh on USD ahead of key US data

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USD/JPY trades around 158.50 on Wednesday at the time of writing, down 0.14% on the day after touching a little over a one-week low near 158.27 earlier in the day.

The Japanese Yen holds near a one-week high against the US Dollar.
Hopes of a de-escalation between the US and Iran support risk appetite and weaken the Greenback.
Investors await the US ADP and ISM data to assess the economic outlook ahead of the employment report.

USD/JPY trades around 158.50 on Wednesday at the time of writing, down 0.14% on the day after touching a little over a one-week low near 158.27 earlier in the day. The pair remains below the 159.00 mark as markets assess the prospects of a de-escalation in the conflict between the United States (US) and Iran, which is reducing demand for the US Dollar (USD).

Market sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump said Washington could wind down hostilities with Tehran within two to three weeks. This prospect of easing tensions in the Middle East has boosted global risk appetite and weakened demand for the US Dollar, limiting any rebound in the USD/JPY pair.

At the same time, Japanese economic data provided additional support to the Japanese Yen (JPY). The Bank of Japan (BoJ) Tankan survey showed that sentiment among large manufacturers improved in the first quarter, with the headline index rising to 17, its highest level since December 2021. This fourth consecutive quarterly increase reinforces expectations of a gradual normalization of monetary policy in Japan, which tends to support the Japanese Yen.

However, some BoJ officials noted that the survey may not fully reflect the impact of the Middle East war. Japan’s economy remains highly dependent on energy imports from the region, meaning that a prolonged escalation could weigh on the country’s economic outlook and limit JPY appreciation.

Meanwhile, markets remain attentive to comments from Japanese authorities regarding currency movements. Officials in Tokyo have recently warned that they are ready to take decisive action in case of excessive JPY volatility, a factor that continues to keep sellers cautious around the pair.

On the US side, attention now turns to macroeconomic releases scheduled for Wednesday, including the ADP private employment report and the ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). These indicators could influence expectations regarding the path of monetary policy from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and help set the tone ahead of Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report.

US Dollar Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Canadian Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		-0.43%	-0.64%	-0.14%	-0.14%	-0.68%	-0.40%	-0.90%
EUR	0.43%		-0.21%	0.31%	0.29%	-0.24%	0.05%	-0.47%
GBP	0.64%	0.21%		0.53%	0.51%	-0.04%	0.27%	-0.24%
JPY	0.14%	-0.31%	-0.53%		0.02%	-0.50%	-0.25%	-0.72%
CAD	0.14%	-0.29%	-0.51%	-0.02%		-0.52%	-0.25%	-0.75%
AUD	0.68%	0.24%	0.04%	0.50%	0.52%		0.30%	-0.23%
NZD	0.40%	-0.05%	-0.27%	0.25%	0.25%	-0.30%		-0.51%
CHF	0.90%	0.47%	0.24%	0.72%	0.75%	0.23%	0.51%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).

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