Overview
- Japan’s top currency officials, including Atsushi Mimura and Minoru Kihara, warned about “one-sided and sharp” moves and hinted at possible intervention, which only briefly checked yen selling.
- The dollar hovered near 157.5 yen as the euro stayed close to a record around 184.5 and the Swiss franc briefly touched a record near 198.3, while the Aussie traded around 104.2 yen.
- The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 0.75%, a three-decade high, with Governor Ueda stressing that any further hikes will depend on incoming data.
- Japanese government bonds sold off alongside the currency moves, pushing the 10-year yield above 2% for the first time since 1999.
- Traders are watching Ueda’s Christmas Day remarks at Keidanren for policy signals as analysts highlight wider Australia–Japan yield differentials that support AUD/JPY, with CBA projecting about 109 by March.