Yen falls sharply to the upper 150 yen range, hitting its lowest level in four months on the Tokyo market as the Bank of Japan takes a cautious stance

On the morning of August 1st, the Japanese yen significantly dropped in the Tokyo foreign exchange market, with the exchange rate falling to the upper 150 yen range per US dollar. This marks the lowest level in about four months since March 28. The decline in the yen value, and corresponding increase in the dollar, accelerated after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated caution regarding further interest rate hikes at a press conference following the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting on July 31. As of 9 AM, the yen was at 150.81-150.81 against the dollar, a depreciation of 1.43 yen from the previous day.

Governor Ueda commented that although the Japan-US negotiations related to tariffs under the Trump administration had reached an agreement, there remains significant uncertainty about economic and price trends both domestically and internationally. He acknowledged that the clear effects of tariffs will become more evident over time and expressed a cautious approach to determining the timing of future rate hikes based on these impacts.