Yen headed for strongest week in a month, dollar flat ahead of payroll data
HONG KONG: The Japanese yen clung to its gains against the US dollar on Friday and was on track for its strongest week in more than a month, as traders ramped up bets on a Bank of Japan interest rate hike and broader currency markets awaited US payrolls data. The Japanese yen strengthened to as much as 155.25 per dollar in morning trade, just off the 155.20 high it hit last month after the July intervention. It later eased and was last flat at 155.71. The yen is now heading for a 2.5% gain this week, its biggest weekly gain since late July, when Japan and the US conducted a rare joint intervention to halt a relentless slide in the Japanese currency. With no clear evidence of official action, analysts say the sudden jump in the yen reflects bets the Bank of Japan could be more hawkish than previously expected when it meets on September 17 to 18. “This feels less like a short squeeze and more like the market cautiously reassessing a more hawkish BOJ path,” said Masahiko Loo, senior fixed income strategist at State Street Investment Management in Tokyo. “Markets are finally starting to buy into the idea that Japan may continue normalising policy into 2027.” Meanwhile, Japan’s
