Japanese Yen strengthens despite robust US jobs data
The USD/JPY pair loses ground to near 158.25 during the early Asian session on Monday. The Japanese Yen (JPY) edges higher against the US Dollar (USD) as Bank of Japan (BOJ) meeting minutes indicate policymakers are prepared to accelerate monetary tightening.
The Japanese Yen strengthened despite the release of strong U.S. jobs data for October. Bank of Japan (BOJ) meeting minutes revealed policymakers intend to accelerate monetary tightening, reinforcing expectations of a December interest rate hike. The U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls report increased by 165,000 in October, surpassing market expectations of a 65,000 gain.
The unemployment rate in the U.S. declined to 4.1% from 4.2% in September. Stronger-than-expected job growth kept the Federal Reserve (Fed) on track to raise interest rates in December. Financial markets priced a 79.6% chance of a U.S. rate hike at the Fed's upcoming meeting, up from 72.8% before the jobs report. Analysts noted that "haven demand favored the JPY over the USD" amid risk aversion.
The Yen drew support from safe-haven inflows and domestic policy signals, with the BOJ minutes supporting further normalization expectations. The U.S. Federal Reserve's (Fed) more hawkish stance, as expressed by Jerome Powell, emphasized the need for further policy tightening despite a resilient labor market. The FXS Fed Sentiment Index rose to 143.10, signaling a firmly hawkish stance well above the neutral 100 threshold.
Despite acknowledging uncertainties around tariffs, war, and AI, the dominant market view was that the Fed would continue to tighten monetary policy, supporting the U.S. Dollar against the Euro and Yen.
Written by urgent.news from FXStreet's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
