What’s next? – USDJPY 21.06.17

USDJPY

The yen strengthened against the dollar in Asian hours on Wednesday following the release of April minutes from the Bank of Japan, in which policymakers suggest changes to the current government bond buying program.

"Unless the bank decelerated further the pace of its JGB purchases at this point, the sustainability and stability of the purchases would not be secured through 2018," said one member of the BoJ monetary policy committee.

Investors kept an eye on BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who said keeping the current monetary conditions is the right thing to do as prices remain distant to the bank’s inflation target.

"... we are still distant from our 2 percent inflation target, [...] It is appropriate to keep monetary conditions easy with our current market operations framework."

As of 11:10 GMT, the USDJPY was trading 0.13 percent lower at 111.33. Technical indicators present strong buy signals on daily basis, although hourly the forecast is rather neutral.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was showing no volatility at 97.31.

The American currency has been recovering since the Federal Reserve rose for the second time this year its short term interest rates by 25 basis points. The US regulator also said a third hike is still possible, depending on economic conditions (of course).

Amid no relevant economic reports, traders are focusing on series of speeches from FOMC representatives, hoping they will provider further details on the regulator’s future plans.