USD Up From Lows, Dovish BoJ Rhetoric Curbs Yen Gains

The USD BBDXY index sits lower for the first part of Thursday's session, lats near 1250.10, but we are comfortably up from earlier lows (1248.99).

• USD/JPY got to lows of 155.37, but we sit back at 155.80 in recent dealings. The trough for the pair coincided with a speech from dovish BoJ board member Nakamura, who stated that the current easy policy settings are appropriate.
• Governor Ueda is before parliament at the moment and stated inflation expectations are rising but not yet at 2%. JGB yields are lower across the board, aided by a strong local debt auction, which is likely curbing yen appetite as well.
• AUD/USD is around 0.6660 currently, up 0.20%, but off earlier highs of 0.6683. Locally data showed better housing finance and trade surplus figures, although export growth is slowing.
• NZD/USD is back under 0.6200, drawing some selling interest on a move above this level, which is a fresh multi month high.
• In the cross asset space, US yields are 1-2bps higher, aiding the USD at the margins. The regional equity backdrop is positive, although gains are mostly sub those seen in Wednesday moves in EU/US markets.
• Looking ahead, US jobless claims, May Challenger job cuts, April trade and final Q1 productivity/ULC as well as April German orders and euro area retail sales print. The ECB decision is announced and a 25bp cut is expected.