Dollar/yen remains firm on Prime Minister Ishiba's stance on continuing monetary easing, but concerns about the Middle East situation linger.

【10/1Market Overview

Tokyo time, the dollar-yen pair moved as the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting for the two days starting on 9/19-9/20 showed no urgency to raise rates, briefly reaching144.52yen. In European time, as U.S. Treasury yields declined, the dollar-yen pair slipped to the high 143s.143yen level. In New York time, when Prime Minister Ishiba indicated in a press conference for the first time since taking office that “the basic stance of monetary easing should be maintained to achieve an exit from deflation,” dollar selling and yen buying led to the dollar-yen reaching144.07yen. Subsequently, reports that Iran is preparing to attack Israel with ballistic missiles caused geopolitical risks in the Middle East to push U.S. Treasuries lower and trigger risk aversion, sending the dollar-yen briefly to142.96yen. After that it stayed in a range around the mid-to-high 143s.

Additionally,9月 U.S.ISM Manufacturing PMI came in below expectations, while8月JOLTS job openings were above expectations, resulting in mixed outcomes.