Forex Today: Japanese Yen Hits 20-Year Low

The Forex market is at the center of attention as the USD/JPY currency pair powers to a new 20-year high. The Japanese Yen is weak as the Bank of Japan has signaled its determination to persist with a unique policy of strong monetary easing as it attempts to drive Japanese inflation up to reach its target of 2%, while almost all other major central banks are tightening monetary policy to combat overly high inflation rates. The USD is stronger on rising yields, with the 5 and 10-year yields exceeding 3% for the first time since May. These factors are producing a very strong bullish breakout in the USD/JPY currency pair, with strong momentum likely to continue over the coming days.Other currencies apart from the Yen are also falling against the US Dollar, which is clearly the strongest major currency.Major cryptocurrencies are falling again, with Ethereum looking especially prone to a major technical bearish breakdown.Energy commodities, especially Crude Oil and Natural Gas, are rising firmly.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to hike its interest rate by 0.25% today, to a new rate of 0.60%.Global stock markets have been mixed, but are mostly bearish.Daily new coronavirus cases globally fell last week, continuing a long-term trend.It is estimated that 65.7% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination, while approximately 6.8% of the global population is confirmed to have contracted the virus at some time, although the true number is highly likely to be much larger.Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 535.9 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.18%.The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be significantly increasing only in Brazil, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Chile.