Ella 
USD/JPY traded above 150.30 late on Wednesday, hitting a fresh 12-month high, as markets continued to test the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) resolve to defend the 150.00 mark.
The U.S. dollar continues to be buoyed by risk aversion and rising U.S. Treasury yields, which continue to hit 16-year highs. On Wednesday, the 10-year Treasury yield closed at 4.957%, the highest 10-year yield since early 2007.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) remains one of the only major central banks to have shown no intention of raising interest rates in the past two years with the aim of stimulating long-term inflation in the country, but it remains concerned that inflationary pressures in the Japanese economy could fall below its 2% target.
Wall Street investors believe the Bank of Japan may change tack at its next meeting, which could involve exiting its bond yield curve control mechanism or negative short-term interest rate regime.
The Asian market will usher in a new round of Japanese inflation data on Friday. The Tokyo Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be released at 7:30 Beijing time on Friday.
Japan’s October Tokyo core CPI annual rate (%) is expected to remain at 2.5% in October this year, and investors will pay close attention to inflation data to understand whether the Bank of Japan will adjust monetary policy soon.
