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Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Tuesday, October 27, that the government is ready for decisive action in the currency market. This is a direct hint at intervention - selling dollars from reserves to support the yen.
WTI crude (the U.S. benchmark grade, with futures traded on the NYMEX exchange) slipped on Monday from its peak level of $103.28 - a five-month high - to around $100.51. The market paused ahead of a week with three central bank meetings at once.
On Monday, October 26, the dollar strengthened against major currencies ahead of the Fed meeting on Wednesday. The yen is the weakest in the basket, the pound slipped from its recent peak of 1.3419 to levels below 1.3350.
XAU/USD touched a fresh weekly low: on Tuesday gold closed at $4,122 (-0.43%), and in the Asian session on Wednesday it traded around $4,115 (-0.2%). This is the fourth consecutive day of decline, all because the market expects the Fed to raise rates rather than cut them.
On Friday morning, three signals at once from the Bank of Japan in favor of a further rate hike supported the yen, and the USD/JPY pair slid to 157.85. The regulator's next meeting is on October 29-30.
September Tokyo inflation came in above forecast across all key measures. Core CPI accelerated to 2.7%, while the measure excluding food and energy reached 3.0%. The yen responded with strengthening, and USD/JPY dropped below 158.00.
USD/JPY rose to 158.44, and the yen lost about 0.5% after the release of the Bank of Japan's summary of opinions. The market saw no signal in the document for a rate hike as early as October, and the absence of currency interventions further increased pressure on the yen.
