• USD/JPY remains steady at 157.00 on track to a 1.5% weekly appreciation.
• Reports suggesting a landslide victory by Takaichi are weighing down the Yen.
• The US Dollar has shrugged off the disappointing US labour data seen this week.

The US Dollar (USD) remains firm on Friday, with the Yen (JPY) showing the weakest performance of the major currencies for the second consecutive week. The pair trades at 157.00 at the moment of trading, after bouncing from 156.45 lows earlier on the day, on track for its strongest weekly performance since October.

Investors remain away from the Yen heading into this weekend’s snap elections. The market is wary of a strong victory by Prime Minister Takaichi, which would grant her stronger parliamentary support to apply her expansive fiscal policy, in a country with one ot the largest public debts in the developed world.

The polls are pointing to a landslide by Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Reports by the Japanese agency Kyodo News suggest that the LDP might win 233 of the 465 seats in the Lower House, which would allow the current prime minister to rule without the constraints of a coalition, a possibility that spooks traders.

In the US, a string of downbeat employment figures has shifted the focus back to the Federal Reserve (Fed), with investors ramping up bets of further rate cuts in the coming months. Jobless Claims rose well beyond expectations in the last week of January, and the JOLTS Job Openings showed their weakest print in more than five years. These figures come after the ADP Employment report revealed that net job creation fell to 22K in January from 41K in December.

With the Key US Nonfarm Payrolls report delayed for next week, due to a government shutdown, the focus on Friday is on the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which is expected have declined to 55 from 56.4 in December. Later on, Fed Governor Philip Jefferson might give fresh hints about the central bank’s monetary policy after this week’s labour data.