Ella 
The yen remained on the defensive against the dollar for the second consecutive day in Asia on Thursday, hovering near a one-week low, but there was a lack of follow-up selling. Japan’s economy unexpectedly shrank for the second consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter, confirming a technical recession. It now appears that hopes that the Bank of Japan will change its policy stance within the next month have been dashed. In addition to this, weak Japanese manufacturing PMIs in February emerged as a key factor weighing on the local currency and boosting USD/JPY.
That said, traders remain hesitant to make aggressive bearish bets on the yen amid concerns that recent weakness in USD/JPY below the psychological 150.00 mark may prompt some intervention from Japanese authorities. In addition, despite the hawkish tone of the Federal Reserve meeting minutes released on Wednesday, the lack of significant buying in the US dollar (USD) also limited the upside of USD/JPY. Looking ahead, traders will focus on U.S. economic data, which typically includes weekly jobless claims, purchasing managers’ indexes and existing home sales data. These data, along with comments from Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson, could give some impetus to yen moves.
