Yen Rises On BoJ Rate Hike Bets

(RTTNews) - The Japanese yen strengthened against other major currencies in the European session on Tuesday amid rising speculation that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will hike interest rates further.

The BoJ rate rise stance is supported by Japan's Services Producer Pricing Index (PPI), which was released earlier on Tuesday.

Data from the Bank of Japan showed that the Japan preliminary services-sector inflation accelerated to 3.1 percent in January, from a 3.0 percent rise a year earlier.

On a monthly basis, the services producer price index fell 0.5 percent in January, after remaining flat in December.

European stocks traded lower after the S&P 500 posted its third consecutive session loss on tariff worries and apprehensions over the artificial intelligence-driven narratives.

Amid rising geopolitical risks and trade war concerns, investors now look ahead to Home Depot's earnings release due before the U.S. opening bell later today and AI-chip darling Nvidia's fiscal-fourth-quarter results after the close of trading on Wednesday for further direction.

Meanwhile, in a major policy shift, the U.S. on Monday sided with Russia on a UN General Assembly draft resolution that called for a de-escalation, an early cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump moved to curb Chinese investments and announced he would proceed with tariffs on Canada and Mexico, following a one-month delay.

In the European trading today, the yen rose to a 4-day high of 188.18 against the pound, from an early 4-day low of 189.67. The yen may test resistance around the 186.00 region.

Against the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the yen edged up to 149.20 and 166.37 from an early 4-day lows of 150.30 and 167.46, respectively. If the yen extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 148.00 against the greenback, 165.00 against the franc

The yen edged up to 156.00 against the euro, from an early low of 157.24. On the upside, 155.00 is seen as the next resistance level for the yen.

Against the Australia and the New Zealand dollars, the yen advanced to more than 2-week highs of 94.54 and 85.40 from early lows of 95.32 and 86.04, respectively. If the yen extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 93.00 against the aussie and 83.00 against the kiwi.

The yen climbed to more than a 5-month high of 104.55 against the Canadian dollar, from an early low of 105.34. The yen is likely to find resistance around the 102.00 region.

Looking ahead, Canada manufacturing sales data for January, U.S. Redbook report, U.S. house price index for December, U.S. Consumer Board's consumer confidence for February and U.S. Richmond manufacturing index for February are slated for release in the New York session.