USD/JPY steadies above 149 as BOJ refuses to comment

Yesterday afternoon, as covered here at the time, the USD/JPY got smashed lower after setting a new 2023 high at 150.16. The drop back to as low as 147.29 was incredibly rapid and smacked of official, or semi-official intervention. The inference was of course that the Bank of Japan had stepped in to cap the rise in the dollar. However, there has been no admission of any such action by the BOJ, either yesterday or so far today. The USD/JPY closed in the US last night at 149.02. The range seen so far today has been covered by 148.98 to 149.32. Naturally, market operators are nervous about the BOJ stepping in again today, but that does not alter the fundamental demand for the dollar, unless the BOJ acts again. Now of course they might easily do that, but the markets may want to test them out again and see if it was really them behind the move. The view here is that it was the BOJ, or more likely one of their proxy counterparties that delivered the move. Meantime, the USD/JPY has steadied above 149 today as the markets wait for the next shoe to drop. The USD/JPY is just now trading at 149.17