ITC: Yen depreciation appears unusually moderate

Odaily reported that Sean Callow, senior foreign exchange analyst at InTouch Capital Markets, said the most striking aspect of the yen's depreciation over the past few weeks is that the exchange rate movement has been fairly orderly and steady. He added that the USD/JPY pair is showing a modest upward trend, without the sharp volatility that Japanese authorities typically cite to justify intervention in the forex market. Callow noted that falling oil prices should have provided some support for the yen, but interest rate factors remain the dominant force in the market. Strong U.S. economic data has reinforced market expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year; despite the Bank of Japan's action in June, 1% is not an attractive yield for a currency trading near 40-year lows against the dollar. (Jin Shi)