EUR/JPY picks up to levels near 182.00, remains sharply lower on the week

EUR/JPY finds support at 180.85 and bounces up to the upper range of the 181.00s.
The Japanese Yen has been surging across the board after Prime Minister Takaichi’s victory.
Rising bets of BoJ rate hikes provide additional support to the JPY

The Euro (EUR) is attempting to find a bottom against the Japanese Yen (JPY) on Thursday, after dropping sharply over the previous three days. The pair has pared daily losses, and trades at 181.70 at the time of writing, up from six-week lows at 180.85. The weekly chart, however, shows a 2.3% decline.

The Japanese Yen is the market’s darling this week, following the landslide victory of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at Sunday’s Elections. Investors are focusing on the positive economic impact of Takaichi’s stimulus program, overlooking the challenges of financing those measures without increasing an already high fiscal deficit.

Meanwhile, hopes that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will keep normalising its monetary policy are contributing to buoy the Yen. Japan’s consumer inflation has shown some moderation recently, but price pressures remain well above the bank’s target rate, and the outlook of lower taxes and economic stimulus is likely to boost consumer demand. In this context, investors are ramping up bets of a BoJ rate hike, which could come as soon as March.

In the Eurozone, the European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates on hold last week and pointed to a steady monetary policy in the near term, downplaying the disinflationary risks of a strong Euro. Later on Thursday, ECB Board members Philip Lane and Joachim Nagel are likely to support that view, which is keeping the Euro from depreciating further.