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• USD/JPY plummeted 2.6% top-to-bottom after US CPI inflation eased in June.
• Strong signs of direct market invention in Yen markets, but no confirmation.
• Market anticipation for a September Fed rate cut is pinned to the ceiling.

USD/JPY plummeted on Thursday, declining 2.6% in a sharp reaction to cooling US Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation and a broadly suspected “Yentervention” by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to prop up the floundering JPY.

June’s US CPI inflation broadly fell below forecasts, with annualized headline CPI inflation easing to 3.0% YoY from the previous 3.3% and falling even lower than the forecast 3.1%. CPI inflation actually contracted -0.1% MoM in June, falling back from the previous month’s flat 0.0% and below the forecast 0.1%.

US Initial Jobless Claims fell to 222K for the week ended July 5, down from the previous week’s revised 239K and improving from the forecast 236K. Thursday’s Initial Jobless Claims figure helped to push the four-week average down to 233.5K from the previous 238.75K.

With US CPI inflation cooling at an accelerated pace, market expectations for a rate hike from the Federal Reserve (Fed) are pricing in the possibility of three quarter-point rate cuts in 2024. According to the CME’s FedWatch Tool, rate market bets of a September rate cut have soared to 95%.

According to unconfirmed rumors citing unnamed officials within the Japanese government, a ‘Yentervention’ was timed with the release of US CPI inflation figures, sending the Yen broadly higher across the board on Thursday. In a repeat of previous Yenterventions, any official confirmation or denial is unlikely to come from BoJ or Ministry of Finance officials for several weeks.

USD/JPY technical outlook
 

USD/JPY took a steep dive on Thursday, briefly testing below the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 157.97 before a half-hearted recovery. The pair is still sharply down from the day’s opening bids, but a long-running bull trend that has dragged USD/JPY to multi-decade highs has left the pair buried deep in bull country.

USD/JPY is still trading well above the 200-day EMA at 151.81, and Thursday’s bearish plunge is unlikely to cause a meaningful shift in the long-term trend.

USD/JPY daily chart
 

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