Ella 
USD/JPY fell below the 148.00 mark, a fresh five-week low in early Asian trade on Friday. A weak U.S. dollar and growing speculation that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will exit its ultra-loose monetary policy stance have boosted the Japanese yen (JPY) and weighed on USD/JPY. As of press time, USD/JPY was trading at 147.70, down 0.26% on the day.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor and board members said on Thursday that Japan’s economy is on track to head towards the central bank’s 2% inflation target, raising the possibility that the central bank will end its negative interest rate policy for the first time since 2007. Hawkish comments from Bank of Japan policymakers sent the yen to a one-month high against the dollar.
On the other hand, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank is “not far off” from gaining enough confidence that inflation will reach its 2% target to initiate rate cuts. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell did not mention a precise timing for a rate cut, as Fed officials want to see more evidence before considering a rate cut.
Market participants will get more clues from Friday’s U.S. labor market report for February. The U.S. nonfarm payrolls report is expected to add 200,000 jobs to the U.S. economy. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.7%, while average hourly earnings are expected to fall back to 0.2% from 0.6% in January.
