Japanese yen holds decline

The Japanese yen hovered near 148 per dollar on Tuesday after falling about 0.5% in the previous session, pressured by dollar strength as optimism grew over progress in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump met with European leaders to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and pushed for a direct meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with a potential trilateral summit including himself to follow.

The yen also faced headwinds after Japanese officials downplayed comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who argued that the Bank of Japan was “behind the curve” on policy in a move seen as pressure to raise rates.

However, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has continued to strike a cautious stance, emphasizing that “underlying inflation” remains below the bank’s 2% target.