The earthquake in Japan caused the market to pay great attention to the USD/JPY, which experienced a sharp depreciation after the opening of the Asian market yesterday. Market sentiment suggests the impact of the earthquake is more severe than initially thought. Therefore, the market expects that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is unlikely to carry out any interest rate adjustment policy for at least 3-6 months.
This view is rooted in the belief that exiting negative interest rate policies while injecting large amounts of cash into the economy is a form of economic harm that could be counterproductive to boosting consumer and market sentiment.