The Japanese yen weakened toward 158 per dollar on Wednesday, extending its decline for a third consecutive session as the greenback strengthened following hotter-than-expected US inflation data, which reinforced expectations of a more restrictive Federal Reserve policy stance.
In Japan, the Bank of Japan’s Summary of Opinions from its April meeting showed that policymakers discussed the possibility of additional interest rate hikes as early as the next meeting, with rising oil prices intensifying concerns about inflation. The OECD also projected that the BOJ’s policy rate could climb to 2% by the end of 2027.
At the same time, currency traders remained alert to the risk of official intervention after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that both the United States and Japan consider excessive currency volatility undesirable—comments widely interpreted as supportive of Tokyo’s recent moves to stabilize the yen.
