During Asian trading, the USD/JPY pair advanced by 0.2% to reach 155.70, significantly above the lows of 152 observed earlier in May.
Market participants are now viewing the 160 level as a critical threshold for potential Japanese government intervention to stabilize the exchange rate.
Meanwhile, the USD/CNY pair increased by 0.1% to 7.2249, reflecting a depreciation of the Chinese yuan following reports indicating that U.S. President Joe Biden was contemplating imposing fresh sanctions on specific Chinese industries, notably electric vehicles and batteries.
Although the precise economic ramifications of these proposed tariffs remain uncertain, such actions could provoke retaliatory responses from China, further straining relations between the world’s two largest economies.