The Bank of Japan may consider scaling back its roughly ¥6tn ($38bn) monthly bond-buying program, which is a critical step towards unwinding its ultra-loose monetary policy4. The central bank is expected to discuss this possibility during its upcoming meeting. The decision to reduce JGB purchases aims to stabilize 10-year JGB yields at around the 1% level while indirectly putting additional downward pressure on the weak yen.
The current USD/JPY trading level is around 161.00, just below its highest level since 1986. Market participants are closely watching for potential intervention by Japanese authorities, with previous comments suggesting a new line in the sand may be close to 165.
The level at the April FX intervention was just below USD/JPY 160, when Japanese authorities intervened in the foreign exchange markets to support the yen.