Yen strengthens past key psychological level of $1 vs ¥140
Yen is the best performer among its Group-of-10 peers against the dollar
The yen extended its advance past the psychological level of ¥140 against the US dollar amid threats to the independence of the Federal Reserve, heightened risks concerning tariffs and ahead of a meeting between the finance chiefs of Japan and the US.
Japan’s currency rose as much as 0.7% to ¥139.93 against the dollar, its strongest level since September. The move came after the currency had paused just before ¥140, where some traders were defending options positions.
Best performer
The yen is the best performer among its Group-of-10 peers against the dollar on Tuesday.
The move comes as Trump’s trade war boosts demand for havens and leads to selling of US assets.
Trump is also contemplating the possibility of firing Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, adding to dollar weakness.
Trump sets sights on Fed
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is laying groundwork to blame the Fed for the economic fallout from the trade war if the central bank doesn’t cut rates soon.
“If the yen clearly exceeds the 140 level or the mid-139 level that it hit in September last year, it’ll become easier for technical factors to trigger yen buying and dollar selling, accelerating the yen’s appreciation,” said Hideki Shibata, senior fixed-income and foreign-exchange strategist at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory Co.
Speculative traders became most bullish on the yen on record last week, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as of April 15.
Investors will be closely watching a meeting between Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that’s reported to be held this week.
