U.S. employment statistics revision and FOMC minutes led to a drop to the mid-144 yen range against the dollar.

【8/21Market Overview

In Tokyo time, in the early morning, USD/JPY fell to144.94yen, but thereafter, as the market approached the fixing time with observed dollar buying by Japanese real demand and as the Nikkei Stock Average narrowed its declines, it rose to145.95yen. In European hours, the dollar/yen saw a rebound, rising to146.22yen.NYSEtime, because the release of the annual revision of the U.S. employment statistics was delayed, USD/JPY rose to146.89yen. In the 30-minute-delayed release, the year-on-year growth in employment for up to March was revised down by3months, to winning a growth of81.8million people, and with expectations of U.S. rate cuts rising, along with declines in U.S. 10-year Treasury yields, there was broad dollar selling. In the FOMC10minutes, the minutes (for 7/30-31) showed that “the majority of officials see a rate cut in September as appropriate,” “a few officials pointed to argument for a cut at the July meeting,” and “some officials noted risks of deeper deterioration in the labor market,” which led the dollar/yen to fall to144.45yen.