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  • The yen is more than 1% stronger because traders are less convinced that the Bank of Japan

  • will on Friday unveil a big package of physical and monetary stimulus.

  • One bank that has been consistently predicting the BOJ would actually not do anything this week is MUFG.

  • And with us from MUFG is Derek Halpenny, its European Head of global market's research.

  • Derek, the problem for the BOJ is whether they've got the tools to do the kind of thing they need to do.

  • Where are they on that?

  • Well I think the timing is hugely important now, as you can see, in terms of the scale of quantitative easing and the buying of JJBs,

  • it's been huge, and therefore, they need to be very very careful in terms of

  • the timing of when they announce and the extension of that.

  • So our view is that they're going to remain very very cautious,

  • perhaps what they want to see is more steps taken on the Abenomic side of policy in Japan.

  • And therefore, they may wait until we have further details of physical stimulus,

  • and hopefully, some other reform measures in regard to the third arrow of Abenomics and then perhaps later in the year,

  • maybe at the October meeting, that would be a more opportune time to extend quantitative easing.

  • Dollar-yen, it's been strengthening recently, and now it's again, today, weakening.

  • What's been driving it?

  • Let's have a look at our next chart which illustrates this.

  • Well, certainly, now if you look at the nominal interest rate spreads that's the very quick way in which dollar-yen tends to respond.

  • So the US data has been strengthening, and perhaps tomorrow when we get the FED statements,

  • there will be an upgrade on the economy after the labor market has picked up.

  • 2-year yields have pretty much in the United States reversed the Brexit drop.

  • Right.

  • And that helps lift dollar-yen.

  • So that's one element. The next element, which our third chart shows, it's actually more from the Japan side, isn't it?

  • Yeah, we're wary of putting too much emphasis on the nominal interest rate differential,

  • and really, as you can see, during Abenomics, it wasn't really nominal yield spreads that drove dollar-yen higher.

  • It was real interest rate spreads, because Abenomics lifted inflation expectations in Japan.

  • The problem since the beginning of this year is that Abenomics has been unravelling, inflation expectations have plunged,

  • and actually, on a five-year five-year inflation swap basis, turned negative earlier this month.

  • So real yields have been rising in Japan,

  • and therefore, that has helped to lift the Japanese yen.

  • And that stronger Japanese yen, as our final chart shows, is actually creating a big current account surplus, isn't it?

  • Yeah, indeed, like in terms of what... obviously if you have a surplus of this size,

  • the exporting of capital on the financial account,

  • is even more important to try and weaken your currency.

  • And if you have rising real yields domestically, that's creating problems for encouraging both households and corporates

  • to invest abroad.

  • Or, what's been happening is the investment income on assets abroad, more of that money is being converted

  • back into Japanese yen, and that's helping to lift the yen.

  • And just finally, Derek, I mean you say there might be an action by the BOJ, say, in October,

  • so where will the yen be by end of year?

  • Well we still feel that perhaps even by then the action might not be aggressive enough,

  • and we're looking at the influences that I've just pointed out, as keeping the yen on a stronger footing

  • through the remainder of this year,

  • so we could be at levels around a hundred or even below by the time we get to the end of the year.

  • Derek Halpenny, thanks very much.

The yen is more than 1% stronger because traders are less convinced that the Bank of Japan

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