JPY flat vs. USD and lagging G4 peers EUR and GBP – Scotiabank

The Japanese Yen (JPY) is soft, down marginally against the US Dollar (USD) and trading around the midpoint of its range since early April, Scotiabank's Chief FX Strategists Shaun Osborne and Eric Theoret report.

Concerns about BoJ’s hawkishness

"The JPY’s relative underperformance against its G4 peers is notable, as both EUR and GBP have pushed to fresh multi-year highs and their gains have been roughly double the JPY’s 1% rise over the past week."

"The outlook for relative central bank policy has been somewhat less supportive for the yen, as market participants have had to contend with an ongoing reassessment of the outlook for the BoJ and specifically questions around their commitment to policy tightening as they tied rate hikes to the outcome of US/Japan trade talks."