The Japanese yen strengthened slightly against the US dollar on Friday. The current USDJPY exchange rate stands at 151.13.
Japanese monetary policymakers continue to intervene verbally. Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki noted today that excessive fluctuations in the yen's exchange rate are undesirable. Japanese authorities are prepared to take measures to avoid a sharp decline in the yen's value.
The question is what exactly to consider a sharp decline. JPY remains under pressure due to the huge difference in interest rates between the Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve. As this will not change quickly, the yen will remain weak for quite some time. How the BoJ will regulate this remains to be seen.
The yen currently hovers near its 34-year low against the US dollar. It remains weak despite the Bank of Japan's historic decision to abandon its negative interest rate policy. At the same time, the regulator's commentaries were quite mild. The market believes that the next interest rate hike will not happen anytime soon.