The Japanese yen fell in Asian trade on Thursday on track for the third straight loss against the US dollar, and about to plumb multi-week lows following the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting.

As expected, the BOJ held interest rates unchanged while reducing growth and inflation forecasts for 2025 due to the impact of US tariffs on global demand.

The Price

Th USD/JPY pair rose 0.55% today to 143.85, with a session-low at 142.87.

Th yen lost 0.55% on Wednesday, the second loss in a row amid positive developments in trade talks between the US and major trade partners.

The BOJ

The Bank of Japan voted today to hold interest rates unchanged at 0.5%, the highest since 2008 as expected.

The vote was unanimous in favor of holding interest rates, as policymakers prefer to take more time to assess the impact of US tariffs on the export-heavy economy.

Policy Statement

The BOJ said in its policy statement that it’ll continue hiking interest rates if the economic and inflationary predictions were carried out.

It said it’ll continue to monitor economic developments and price without any preset projections, with a heavy reliance on data.

Economic Forecasts

The Bank of Japan reduced its 2025 growth forecasts from 1.1% to 0.5%, and the 2026 growth forecast from 1% to 0.7%.

It also reduced 2025 inflation forecasts to 2.2% from 2.4%, and the 2026 forecasts to 1.8% from 2.1%.

Japanese Rates

The current odds of a BOJ interest rate hike in June fell below 25%.

Now traders await more crucial Japanese inflation, wages, and unemployment data in upcoming days to gather more clues.

The Bank of Japan voted today to hold interest rates unchanged at 0.5%, the highest since 2008 as expected.

The vote was unanimous in favor of holding interest rates, as policymakers prefer to take more time to assess the impact of US tariffs on the export-heavy economy.

Ripple tumbled on Wednesday as most cryptocurrencies sustained losses amid a weak risk appetite following weak US data. 

Earlier data showed US GDP shrank 0.3% y/y in the first quarter, while analysts expected a growth of 0.4%.

According to the ADP survey, the US private sector added just 62 thousand new jobs in April, below expectations of 120 thousand.

Trump commented on the GDP contraction data and blamed Biden’s heritage, asserting that his economic recovery that he promised will take time.

He asserted that tariffs will have their impact soon with corporations already shifting their production to the US in record numbers.

US consumer spending rose 2.6% y/y in March, down from a 3% rise in February.

Ripple

Ripple fell 4.7% on Coinmarketcap as of 20:37 GMT to $2.18.

The Australian dollar rose against most major rivals after positive data showed higher than expected inflation in the first quarter. 

Australia’s consumer prices rose 2.4% y/y in March, above estimates of 2.3%, and same as the previous reading in February.

On a quarterly basis, consumer prices rose 0.9% in the first quarter, up from 0.2 % in the fourth quarter of last year.

The odds of a 0.25% interest rate cut in May by the Reserve Bank of Australia fell to 95%.

On trading, AUD/USD rose 0.4% as of 19:50 GMT to 0.6405.

Loonie

The Canadian dollar rose 0.4% as of 19:50 GMT against its US counterpart to 0.7254.

Earlier data showed Canada’s GDP contracted by 0.2% in February.

US Dollar

The dollar index rose 0.3% as of 19:52 GMT to 99.4, with a session-high at  99.6, and a low at 99.1.

Earlier data showed US GDP shrank 0.3% y/y in the first quarter, while analysts expected a growth of 0.4%.

According to the ADP survey, the US private sector added just 62 thousand new jobs in April, below expectations of 120 thousand.

Trump commented on the GDP contraction data and blamed Biden’s heritage, asserting that his economic recovery that he promised will take time.

He asserted that tariffs will have their impact soon with corporations already shifting their production to the US in record numbers.