BofA now expects the yen to appreciate roughly 6% by year-end after coordinated
currency intervention. Analysts including Shusuke Yamada wrote on Wednesday that
with joint US–Japan action and expectations of BOJ tightening in coming months,
USD/JPY is seen falling from about 158 to 149, versus a prior year-end forecast
of 152. They say intervention raises the bar for successfully defending the yen
and may require macro policy follow-up—specifically faster rate hikes; moving in
September rather than October would let the BOJ demonstrate it is ahead of the
curve on upside inflation risk.
