The Japanese yen traded around 152.4 per dollar on Thursday, declining over 1% in the previous session and reaching its weakest point in nearly three months due to political uncertainty ahead of the general election this weekend.
Yen weakens to 152.4 ahead of election
Polls indicated that the coalition government may lose its parliamentary majority, complicating the outlook for the Bank of Japan interest rate hike. Additionally, investors processed data revealing that private sector activity in Japan contracted for the first time in four months in October, with declines in both the manufacturing and services sectors.
Japan monitoring yen as it retraces gains amid strong dollar
Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki noted that the government is closely monitoring currency movements, as the yen has retraced more than half of the gains made since the last intervention in July. Meanwhile, the yen remains under pressure from a strengthening dollar, driven by expectations of more cautious Federal Reserve rate cuts and speculation that Trump may win in November.
