The US dollar breaks through the 150 mark against the Japanese yen, driven by strong retail data and European interest rate cuts

Zhitong
2024.10.17 13:56
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The USD/JPY exchange rate broke through the 150 mark on Thursday for the first time since early August, driven mainly by the European Central Bank's interest rate cut decision and strong US retail sales data. This exchange rate movement has reinforced the market's view that the interest rate differential between the US and Japan will remain significant, prompting buying support for the USD/JPY. As of now, the USD/JPY exchange rate is at 149.69, up 0.25% intraday. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his reluctance for the Bank of Japan to rush into raising interest rates shortly after taking office on October 1, despite previously indicating support for rate hikes, putting selling pressure on the yen. At the same time, the resilience of the US economy has led the market to expect the Federal Reserve to slow down its pace of monetary easing, further pressuring the yen. Official data released on Thursday showed that US retail sales in September increased by 0.4% from the previous month, while the European Central Bank's interest rate cut decision indicated that inflation in the region is under control. Against the backdrop of easing inflation, the Federal Reserve implemented its first interest rate cut in four and a half years last month, with a larger than usual 0.5 percentage point cut, marking the beginning of an easing cycle

According to the Zhitong Finance and Economics APP, the USD/JPY exchange rate broke through the 150 mark on Thursday for the first time since early August, mainly driven by the European Central Bank's interest rate cut decision and strong U.S. retail sales data. This exchange rate movement has strengthened the market's view that the interest rate differential between the U.S. and Japan will continue to remain significant, prompting buying support for the USD/JPY. As of now, the USD/JPY exchange rate is at 149.69, up 0.25% intraday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe expressed his reluctance for the Bank of Japan to rush into raising interest rates shortly after taking office on October 1st, despite previously indicating support for rate hikes. This shift has put selling pressure on the Japanese yen. Meanwhile, the resilience of the U.S. economy has led the market to expect the Federal Reserve to slow down its pace of monetary easing, further pressuring the yen.

Official data released on Thursday showed that U.S. retail sales in September increased by 0.4% compared to the previous month, while the European Central Bank's interest rate cut decision indicated that inflation in the region is under control. Against the backdrop of falling inflation, the Federal Reserve implemented its first interest rate cut in four and a half years last month, with a larger than usual cut of 0.5 percentage points, marking the beginning of an easing cycle

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