Another day, another ramp up in USD/JPY, but we got the first hints that (at the very least) we should be wary of BoJ intervention. Not that levels are key, more so the speed of JPY appreciation over the past week.
From the high 112.00’s, renewed selling tore through the 111.00’s to print a 110.99 low, but after a brief period of consolidation, in which we saw further attempts on the figure, we saw a sharp ramp up to the 113.00 handle. The highs did not hold, but 112.00 has, and at the end of the day we were none the wiser on what was behind the move as the Japanese Govt declined to comment on intervention.
Heavy losses followed in the cross rates, as EUR/JPY broke under 126.00. Lower levels were spared as EUR/USD rallied through 1.1300 again to set new highs just shy of 1.1370. GBP/JPY was slammed to 160.00, but held the figure despite GBP losses against both the EUR and USD – Cable dipping under 1.4400 while the cross rate traded to within a few ticks of .7900. AUD suffered as losses in equities and oil coincided with the JPY rally, trading under .7000 vs the USD, and .7800 vs JPY. CAD did breach 1.4000 as WTI neared the Jan lows (but held). MXN weakened to fresh record lows to 19.700. EUR/SEK rallied to 9.6000 after the Riksbank cut rates by 15bps, but could not hold onto gains.