Yen Surges Late In Wednesday NY Trade, Fueling Fresh Intervention Talk, BoJ Minutes Out Today

USD/JPY was modestly softer as Fed Chair Powell's press conference unfolded, but we didn't get sub the 157.00 level. However, in the 4-5pm NY window the pair fell very sharply, from around 157.50 to near the 153.00 level (although the very sharp part of the move unfolded in minutes). We have recovered some ground since, getting back to 155.36 in early Asia Pac trade. However, we are back around 155.00 at the time of writing.

• The sharp yen rally towards the end of the NY session/APAC cross over will no doubt fuel fresh speculation of intervention by the authorities. This is a lighter liquidity period for markets, so the authorities may have been looking to take advantage of that.
• This follows speculation that the authorities intervened on Monday, at least based off analysis of BoJ account data (see this BBG link for more details).
• Elsewhere, the yen received some benefit through the Powell press conference. Treasuries pared gains but held a sizeable rally, primarily on Fed Chair Powell saying it's unlikely the next rate move will be a hike. Fed Funds futures have shifted closer to fully pricing a first cut in November again.
• Locally today we have the BoJ minutes from the March meeting, along with Apr monetary base figures. Later on, consumer confidence figures print.
• Levels wise for USD/JPY, late Wednesday lows in NY came in at 153.04. The 50-day EMA is at 152.31. Yesterday's highs were near 158.00, Apr 26 highs at 158.44.