Ella 
The Japanese yen (JPY) consolidated on Friday after the Ministry of Finance released its foreign exchange reserves for May, falling sharply to $123.1 billion from $127.9 billion in May. This is the lowest level since February 2023 as the government conducted foreign exchange intervention operations to defend the yen.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday that he would take action against excessive exchange rate fluctuations when necessary and would evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. Suzuki stressed the importance of maintaining market trust in public finances and mentioned that there is no funding limit for foreign exchange interventions, according to Reuters.
The U.S. dollar (USD) is struggling as lower U.S. employment data has raised hopes of two interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2024. A Reuters poll from May 31 to June 5 showed that nearly two-thirds of analysts expected a rate cut in September. In addition, the CME FedWatch tool showed that the probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by at least 25 basis points in September has risen to nearly 70.0% from 51.0% a week ago.
