Yen Volatility Due, In Part, to Finance Minister Fujii

Yen moves higher in currency trading

The yen is moving higher in currency trading on the FX market today, driven by remarks from Japanese Finance Minister Fujii. There had been expectations that economic data coming out of the U.S. would help the USD/JPY currency pair, but Fujii’s ill-timed and insensitive remarks continue to encourage yen volatility and dollar weakness.

Indeed, Fujii has been making a lot of mistakes lately with regard to comments on the forex market. GFT’s Boris Schlossberg reports on Fujii’s most recent remarks and their implications:

Mr. Fujii stated that, “The United States is caught in a dilemma. You can’t deny that the current yen rise was caused by a weak dollar." His remarks sent USD/JPY& to 90.10 in a knee jerk reaction as traders once again interpreted Mr. Fujii’s words as an open invitation to push the pair lower. Although Mr. Fujii was simply reiterating the obvious, his leaden ear to the sensitivity of the market continues to create volatility for the yen.