Yen Loses Shine, Japanese Markets Close For Holiday

Safe havens lost allure on Tuesday, with USD/JPY creeping higher as a result, only to trim gains over the WMR fix. Participants continued to chew over abundant (and noisy, for that matter) headline flow surrounding the Russia-Ukraine standoff, extensively covered in our earlier bullets.

• USD/JPY has faded its initial uptick this morning, with Japanese markets closed for a public holiday. The rate operates -5 pips at Y115.03 at typing, with bears looking for losses past Feb 2 low of Y114.16. Conversely, topside focus falls on Feb 15 high of Y115.87, followed by Feb 10/Jan 4 highs of Y116.34/35.
• Worth noting that the House of Representatives passed a record Y107.6tn draft budget for FY2022, sending it to the House of Councillors. Under Japan's constitution, this effectively sets the stage for the adoption of the spending plan within 30 days.
• Yomiuri reported that the ruling LDP/Komeito coalition are in talks with the Democratic Party for the People to work out measures to tackle rising fuel prices. Steps under consideration include the implementation of a "trigger clause," which would lower fuel taxes if prices exceed certain threshold.
• Focus moves to Friday's release of Tokyo CPI.