USD/JPY trades close to yearly high near 158.20 amid Trump-Powell feud
- USD/JPY clings to gains near the yearly high around 158.20 amid criminal charges against Fed’s Powell.
- Fed’s Powell has been charged with mismanaging funds utilized for the Washington headquarters’ renovation.
- Japan’s PM Takaichi could announce a snap election early in February.
The USD/JPY pair trades firmly to its yearly high near 158.20 during the European trading session on Monday. The pair remains broadly firm while both the US Dollar (USD) and the Japanese Yen (JPY) are underperforming during the day.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the weakest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.40% | -0.42% | -0.09% | -0.28% | -0.30% | -0.48% | -0.45% | |
| EUR | 0.40% | -0.02% | 0.39% | 0.14% | 0.11% | -0.06% | -0.04% | |
| GBP | 0.42% | 0.02% | 0.40% | 0.15% | 0.14% | -0.03% | -0.03% | |
| JPY | 0.09% | -0.39% | -0.40% | -0.25% | -0.27% | -0.45% | -0.42% | |
| CAD | 0.28% | -0.14% | -0.15% | 0.25% | -0.02% | -0.20% | -0.16% | |
| AUD | 0.30% | -0.11% | -0.14% | 0.27% | 0.02% | -0.19% | -0.16% | |
| NZD | 0.48% | 0.06% | 0.03% | 0.45% | 0.20% | 0.19% | 0.03% | |
| CHF | 0.45% | 0.04% | 0.03% | 0.42% | 0.16% | 0.16% | -0.03% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
As of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades 0.4% lower to near 98.70. The DXY has corrected after revisiting the monthly high near 99.25.
The US Dollar is under pressure as United States (US) federal prosecutors have accused Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell of cost overruns in the renovation of Washington’s headquarters. In response, Fed’s Powell has pushed back allegations, stating that these threats are not about his “testimony or the renovation project but a pretext”.
The event has renewed concerns over the Fed’s independence, a scenario that is unfavorable for the US Dollar.
On the economic front, investors await the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for December, which will be released on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Yen is also underperforming on expectations that Japan’s Prime Minister (PM) Sanae Takaichi could announce an early snap election. A report from Reuters has shown that Takaichi could call for a snap election on February 8 or 15.
US Dollar FAQs
The US Dollar (USD) is the official currency of the United States of America, and the ‘de facto’ currency of a significant number of other countries where it is found in circulation alongside local notes. It is the most heavily traded currency in the world, accounting for over 88% of all global foreign exchange turnover, or an average of $6.6 trillion in transactions per day, according to data from 2022. Following the second world war, the USD took over from the British Pound as the world’s reserve currency. For most of its history, the US Dollar was backed by Gold, until the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1971 when the Gold Standard went away.
The most important single factor impacting on the value of the US Dollar is monetary policy, which is shaped by the Federal Reserve (Fed). The Fed has two mandates: to achieve price stability (control inflation) and foster full employment. Its primary tool to achieve these two goals is by adjusting interest rates. When prices are rising too quickly and inflation is above the Fed’s 2% target, the Fed will raise rates, which helps the USD value. When inflation falls below 2% or the Unemployment Rate is too high, the Fed may lower interest rates, which weighs on the Greenback.
In extreme situations, the Federal Reserve can also print more Dollars and enact quantitative easing (QE). QE is the process by which the Fed substantially increases the flow of credit in a stuck financial system. It is a non-standard policy measure used when credit has dried up because banks will not lend to each other (out of the fear of counterparty default). It is a last resort when simply lowering interest rates is unlikely to achieve the necessary result. It was the Fed’s weapon of choice to combat the credit crunch that occurred during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008. It involves the Fed printing more Dollars and using them to buy US government bonds predominantly from financial institutions. QE usually leads to a weaker US Dollar.
Quantitative tightening (QT) is the reverse process whereby the Federal Reserve stops buying bonds from financial institutions and does not reinvest the principal from the bonds it holds maturing in new purchases. It is usually positive for the US Dollar.