USD/JPY Reverses Post BoJ Gains, AUD & NZD Firm On Higher Equities

The USD is modestly softer. AUD and NZD have rallied on a firmer regional equity, mainly led by HK, amid fresh rescue hopes in the space from the China authorities. USD/JPY rose initially post the BoJ outcome, but is now back lower. The BBDXY sits down a little over 0.10%, last near 1235.40.

• The BoJ meeting came and went without any dramatic changes from the central bank. There were some modest tweaks to the inflation and growth forecasts. Core CPI for 2025 was kept under 2%, a more hawkish development would have been to raise this to 2% or higher.
• Still, the central bank sees itself gradually moving towards its inflation goal by the end of the projection period, albeit with uncertainty. For USD/JPY we got to a high of 148.55 post the meeting outcome, but we now sit back near 148.00. We still have Ueda's press conference to come.
• AUD/USD is up around 0.40%, last close to session highs, but unable to breach the 0.6600 in a sustainable fashion. Positive spill over from HK equity gains are likely helping at the margin. Iron ore is also higher, last above $131/ton. USD/CNH is also around 0.30% lower, last near 7.1710/20.
• NZD/USD is back close towards 0.6100, up 0.30% for the session, but is trailing the AUD modestly.
• Looking ahead, focus for the Tuesday session shifts to UK public finances data, the prelim Eurozone consumer confidence release and the latest ECB bank lending survey. In the US the Richmond Fed Index is out.