USD/JPY still under pressure as month-end looms

On Friday the USD/JPY fell back further into the US close, hitting a session low at 142.07, before later closing out the week at 142.21. That was more than 400 pips below the highs seen much earlier in the day and came after the appointment of the new Japanese Prime Minister, Ishiba who is hawk when it comes to the outlook for Japanese monetary policy. So, despite Ishiba later denying he will seek to influence BOJ policy, the USD/JPY was unable to recover into the US close. The Nikkei 225 futures slumped for the same reason and as of the US close on Friday were indicating a more than 2400 point drop on the opening today. Well, overnight the initial market move was not that bad and it helped the dollar rebound towards 143. However, since then it has dropped back towards the 142 handle again, accompanied by similar price action in the Nikkei 225. The range seen has been covered by 141.92 to 142.95 and there will be more to add on this one for sure as the final day of the month, quarter and half-year gets underway in Europe. The USD/JPY is currently trading at 141.94