Yen exchange rate today
According to Lao Dong, on March 31, the Japanese Yen (JPY) continued to maintain its upward momentum as supporting factors became increasingly clear.
In today's session, the USD/JPY pair recovered slightly from its lowest level in more than a week, but the general trend is still leaning towards the increase of the JPY. The exchange rate is currently trading in the range of 149.002 USD/JPY; meaning 1 USD can be exchanged for about 149 JPY.
The main reason comes from investors' risk-off sentiment due to tense developments in the global market.
Yen may continue to benefit
US President Donald Trump has just decided to impose a 25% tax on all imported cars not manufactured in the US and is expected to expand the higher tax rate to many other countries from April 2. This raises concerns about a large-scale trade war, causing investors to look to JPY - a safe-haven asset.
In addition, Mr. Trump has said he could impose a 25 to 50% tax on those who buy oil from Russia if he feels Moscow is hindering efforts to end the Ukrainian conflict. These factors continue to put pressure on the USD and support the JPY's increase.
In addition, consumer inflation data in Tokyo released last weekend showed that this index is still above 2% - the target of the Bank of Japan (BoJ). This strengthens the possibility that the BoJ will continue to raise interest rates this year, possibly even more strongly if the economy and prices develop as expected.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is likely to soon cut interest rates due to concerns about the negative impact of tariff policies on the US economy. If the Fed follows this direction, the USD could weaken further, creating more momentum for the JPY to increase.
With the prospect of the BoJ continuing to raise interest rates while the Fed may soon cut, along with the risk of increasing globally, the JPY is likely to continue to maintain its upward momentum in the coming time.
Investors are waiting for important economic data from the US, including the non-farm payrolls (NFP) report, to have more signals on the USD and JPY trends.
