Market to Central Bankers: Do You Feel In Charge?

In the near term, the rally in the yen points to equity market weakness. Longer-term, the market may realize the central bankers have far less power than imagined.

ZeroHedge digs into the yen situation: USDJPY Crashes, Drags Equities With It As Gold Soars

“The yen is being driven higher by risk aversion and by market participants testing the BOJ’s tolerance toward a stronger currency,” said Thu Lan Nguyen, a foreign-exchange strategist at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “Japan doesn’t want to give the impression it’s planning to intervene given it’s hosting the next Group-of-Seven summit. There’s also a perception that it has very few measures left to aggressively ease monetary policy."

Japan’s government is watching yen movements with vigilance, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said for a third day Thursday. Excessive currency moves have a negative impact on the economy, he said.

“If Japanese officials start saying ‘will take bold action if necessary,’ then it is time to be wary of the risks of market intervention,” said Joseph Capurso, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. “In any case, history shows market intervention by the MOF via the Bank of Japan does not lead to a sustained weakening of the yen.”