Ella 
AUD/JPY continues to struggle above the 98.00 mark and gave up gains during the Asian session to fall to over a week high. Spot prices fell to fresh intraday lows after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced their policy decisions, although managed to attract fresh buyers around the 97.00 level.
As widely expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the Official Cash Rate (OCR) on hold at the end of its March policy meeting. However, in the absence of any new hawkish signals, the Australian dollar (AUD) is starting to lose traction, although signs of improving relations between Australia and China – the former’s largest trading partner – are helping to limit further losses.
At the same time, the Bank of Japan announced that it would raise interest rates by 10 basis points (bps) from -0.1% to 0%. This was the first rate increase since 2007, ending the era of negative interest rates that began in 2016. The Bank of Japan also scrapped its yield curve control (YCC) policy at the end of its two-day monetary policy meeting. However, this decision was basically in line with market expectations and had little impact on the yen.
Investors are now looking forward to the post-meeting press conference, where comments from Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will play a key role in influencing JPY price dynamics and provide some meaningful insight into the AUD/JPY cross. driving force. In the meantime, with the fundamental backdrop being mixed, it would be prudent to wait for strong follow-through buying before positioning for any further appreciation moves.
