Ella 
The Japanese yen (JPY) fell on Friday, likely influenced by the decline in Japan’s foreign exchange reserves in May, as reported by the Ministry of Finance. Foreign exchange reserves fell sharply from $1,279 billion to $1,231 billion in May, the lowest level since February 2023, as the government took foreign exchange intervention actions to protect the yen.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday that he would take action against excessive currency fluctuations when necessary and would evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. Suzuki stressed the importance of maintaining market trust in public finances and mentioned that there is no funding limit for foreign exchange interventions, according to Reuters.
The US dollar (USD) was in trouble as lower employment data in the United States (US) raised hopes that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would make two interest rate cuts in 2024. A Reuters poll conducted from May 31 to June 5 showed that nearly two-thirds of economists predicted that the Fed would cut interest rates in September. In addition, the CME FedWatch tool showed that the probability of the Fed cutting interest rates by at least 25 basis points in September has risen to nearly 70.0% from 51.0% a week ago.
