Societe Generale analysts observe USD/JPY remains little changed for a second week, trading just below 160 where verbal intervention risk persists. They note softer Bank of Japan (BoJ) hike pricing after Governor Ueda’s cautious stance and a BoJ call change that delays the next 25 bp increase to June or July, leaving Japanese Yen dynamics tightly linked to policy expectations and intervention threats.

Yen steady as BoJ delays next hike

"USD/JPY: 159.03 - 159.53 overnight range. Spot little changed for second week, proximity to 160 keeps alive (verbal) intervention threat. Support 157.51, resistance 160.00."

"BoJ call change: next 25bp increase postponed to June (or July depending on Iran war), followed by October or December."

"Pricing for the BoJ fell to 4bp after Governor Ueda uncharacteristically kept markets guessing two weeks before the policy meeting."

"Japan FinMin Katayama said many central banks attending the IMF meetings this week had noted that it’s better to wait-and-see on policy for now."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)