Ella 
The yen fell against the U.S. dollar for a second straight day on Thursday, but remained within the volatile range seen since the start of the week. Bank of Japan (BoJ) Deputy Governor Uchida Shinichi’s speech today was not hawkish enough. He said that the central bank will not raise interest rates aggressively after ending negative interest rates. Coupled with the market maintaining a general risk appetite, the risk aversion sentiment in the Japanese yen has been weakened, but the downturn in the price of the US dollar (USD) has been negative for USD/JPY.
Recently, several influential Fed officials have said the central bank is in no rush to start lowering borrowing costs while the U.S. economy remains resilient. That said, the prospect of an imminent shift in the Fed’s policy stance still has dollar bulls on the defensive at the highest level in nearly three months. Additionally, USD/JPY gains were also capped by concerns that Japan’s wage growth this year could exceed that of 2023, paving the way for the Bank of Japan to exit its decade-long ultra-easy policy.
