What Could Drive USD/JPY to 13 Year Lows?

December 10, 2008

We are inching closer to a formal bailout plan for the Big 3 automakers and as previously suggested, regardless of the final outcome, the markets will cheer an end to the drawn out drama. The rally in equities this morning have driven major currencies higher against the US dollar and Japanese Yen, but it remains to be seen whether the improvement in investor sentiment will last. We are walking into a lot of potentially weak economic data on Thursday and Friday that could serve as a harsh reminder of the problems that the US economy faces. The PPI and retail sales figures should resurrect concerns that deflation and depression will hit the US.

The Treasury market is already pricing in the possibility of deflation and depression with yields in zero to negative territory for the first time since the Great Depression. Fed Fund futures are pricing in a 100 percent chance of a 75bp rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week. This would take US rates to 0.25%, making the US dollar the lowest yielding currency in the developed world. Although the greenback has remained weak against the Japanese Yen, if the Fed takes interest rates to zero, we could see the dollar fall to 13 year lows against the Japanese Yen.

Source: eSignal

Posted in Carry Trades, Fed Rate Cut, Fed Rate Cut Expectations, Forex News, Forex Technicals, US Dollar, US Economy, forex blog, retail sales, usd/jpy, zero interest rates