Yen exchange rate today
According to Lao Dong, on April 4, the Japanese Yen (JPY) continued to strengthen against the USD, marking the fourth consecutive day of increase.
The USD/JPY exchange rate is currently fluctuating around its lowest level in nearly half a year, since the beginning of October last year. The main reason comes from the risk-off sentiment of global investors and expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will continue to raise interest rates by the end of this year.
The latest update shows that the JPY vs USD exchange rate is currently fluctuating around 145.410 USD/JPY; meaning 1 USD can be exchanged for about 145 JPY.
Yen is strongly supported
Investors believe that inflation in Japan is spreading and this could prompt the BoJ to take stronger action in tightening monetary policy.
At the same time, the unstable context of the world economy has also caused investors to turn to looking for safe assets, including the Yen.
One of the worrying factors is US President Donald Trump's strong tax policy - especially the 25% tax rate on cars imported from Japan, which took effect on Thursday. This not only severely affects the Japanese automobile industry (accounting for about 3% of GDP), but also makes the market worried about the risk of a civil war.
However, despite concerns that US tax policy could force the BoJ to temporarily suspend interest rate hike, optimism around the JPY remains strong. Japanese government bond yields for the 10-year period fell sharply, recording the biggest decline since August last year, slowing the JPY's increase in the Asian session, but still enough to keep the USD/JPY pair low.
On the other hand, the US dollar is still under pressure as US Treasury yields fell sharply, reflecting expectations that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will start cutting interest rates from June and may cut up to four times this year.
Investors are now waiting for the US monthly employment report ( Nonfarm Payrolls) to make a better assessment of the health of the world's largest economy and the next direction of the USD/JPY exchange rate.
