Ella 
The yen edged higher against the dollar during Asian trading on Tuesday, but remained near multi-decade lows hit last week. Japanese government officials continue to make verbal statements in defense of the currency, which, along with risk aversion, is a key factor supporting the safe-haven yen. That said, the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) dovish outlook, which says monetary policy will remain accommodative for some time, has deterred aggressive bets from yen bulls and curbed significant gains in the yen.
On the other hand, the dollar stood near its highest level since February 2024 following upbeat U.S. data on Monday. In fact, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that U.S. manufacturing grew in March for the first time since September 2022. That overshadowed Friday’s U.S. PCE price index, which showed a modest rise in inflation in February, forcing investors to reduce their bets on a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in June. This provides a “boost” to the dollar and suggests that USD/JPY has a path of least resistance to the upside.
