Ahead of the release of the US July jobs report, markets have increasingly adopted a wait-and-see stance, with dollar-yen trading around the mid-¥158 range. Trading was limited as attention focused on how long the intervention's effects would last.
In the foreign exchange market on the 7th, dollar-yen traded around ¥158.50 to the dollar, with the market lacking a clear direction. Market participants were focused on the US July jobs report due later that day, and a wait-and-see mood prevailed as they assessed the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy.
After the Japanese and US governments carried out coordinated intervention on 31 July, the first such action in about 40 years, dollar-yen briefly fell to ¥155.20 on the 4th, reaching its lowest level since early May. It subsequently recouped part of the decline over the next 2 trading days, drawing market attention to the durability of the intervention's effects.
According to Reuters economist forecasts, the increase in US nonfarm payrolls in July is expected to widen from 57,000 in the previous month to 80,000. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.2%, while such factors as lower crude oil prices and declining bond yields could also affect the dollar exchange rate.