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In the shadow of the Middle East conflict, how strong is the Japanese yen’s support?
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Hello everyone, today XM Forex will bring you "[XM Forex]: How strong is the Japanese yen's support under the shadow of the Middle East conflict". Hope this helps you! The original content is as follows:
On Tuesday, March 31, the U.S. dollar was trading around 159.40 against the Japanese yen. International crude oil prices remained high and volatile as the Iran conflict continued to push up energy costs. The Bank of Japan voted 8 to 1 at its mid-March meeting to keep the short-term policy interest rate unchanged at 0.75%. Japan's consumer price index fell to 1.3% year-on-year in February, and data from the Tokyo area in March also showed that overall inflation pressure has eased. Against this background, xmaccount.commerzbank analysis pointed out that if the Iranian conflict continues to rise and energy prices continue to rise, the Bank of Japan may advance its originally planned interest rate hike in June to its meeting at the end of April, but this move is expected to have a limited support for the yen.
In-depth interpretation of Japan’s inflation situation
Japan’s inflation path shows obvious structural differentiation. The national consumer price index increased by 1.3% year-on-year in February 2026, down 0.2 percentage points from 1.5% in January. This is the lowest level since March 2022. The core consumer price index excluding fresh food rose to 1.6% year-on-year, also below the 2% target range, while the core consumer price index excluding fresh food and energy remained at a high of 2.5%, indicating that domestic underlying inflation remains sticky. Preliminary data for the Tokyo area in March show that the overall consumer price index rose by 1.4% year-on-year, with the core index at 1.7%. The weight of gasoline only accounts for 0.5% in the Tokyo area, but the weight is higher at the national level. The boosting effect of rising energy prices on the overall index will be more significant.
After seasonal adjustment, prices excluding energy and fresh food increased by 0.18% month-on-month, still within the 2% target range of the Bank of Japan. Continued deflationary trend in food prices masks rising energy pricesHowever, if the second-round effect appears in transportation or food processing, the room for policy maneuver will be significantly narrowed. The latest research paper from the Bank of Japan pointed out that inflation is slowly stabilizing in the 1.5% to 2% range, ending the period of low inflation and even short-term high inflation for many years. Short-term energy price shocks pose limited direct threats to target achievement, but longer-term conflicts will amplify imported inflationary pressures and test the central bank's ability to monitor potential wage-price spirals.
Energy Price Impacts under the Iran Conflict
The Iran conflict has lasted for several weeks, and the international crude oil price has remained around US$107 per barrel, a significant increase from the initial stage of the conflict. Shipping disruptions and damage to export facilities in the Gulf region have directly pushed up the cost of the global energy supply chain. Japan, as an economy highly dependent on energy imports, has particularly prominent imported inflationary pressures. The weight of gasoline prices in the national consumer price index is higher than that in the Tokyo area. Energy prices have begun to rise month-on-month in March, but the continued decline in food prices has temporarily covered up this impact.
If the conflict does not ease within the next four weeks, the second-round transmission effect of energy prices will gradually appear in the transportation, manufacturing and retail sectors. What the Bank of Japan needs to weigh is whether rising energy costs will evolve into generalized price pressures, thereby affecting corporate pricing behavior and wage negotiations. xmaccount.commerzbank emphasized that the current inflation trend is still within control, but the persistence of geopolitical risks will significantly reduce the policy space of the Bank of Japan to maintain current interest rate levels. Every US$10 per barrel increase in energy prices may drive Japan's overall consumer price index to increase by an additional 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points. This quantitative impact cannot be ignored in the context of high import dependence.
Policy considerations for the timing of the Bank of Japan’s interest rate hike
The Bank of Japan’s March meeting clearly maintained interest rates at 0.75%, indicating that policymakers still prefer to observe the evolution of data before taking action. However, analysts believe that if the conflict in Iran does not subside before the meeting at the end of April, the central bank may advance the originally planned interest rate increase in June to April. This judgment is based on the potential disturbance of energy prices to the inflation path: short-term energy shocks will not pose a fatal threat to the 2% target, but if the second-round effect spreads in the food and transportation fields, the room for policy easing will quickly shrink.
The Bank of Japan’s research paper further supports the judgment of inflation stabilization, but also reminds the need to closely monitor the spillover of geopolitical factors to the energy market. xmaccount.commerzbank pointed out that "if the conflict continues, an early interest rate increase is more likely." It also warned that the inflationary trend in energy prices had been masked by food deflation in March. After seasonal adjustment, the price of energy and fresh food is still in line with the target range. However, once the second round of effects occurs, the policy operation space will be limited. Overall, the central bank prefers to keep interest rates unchanged at its end-April meeting, but geopolitical uncertainty may force policymakers to act earlier to maintain price stability anchoring.
xmaccount.complex dynamic assessment of the Japanese yen exchange rate
Although early interest rate hikes can provide certain interest rate support, the negative spillover effects of the Iran conflict may offset some of the benefits, posing a downward trend to the Japanese yen.Line drag. The USD/JPY exchange rate is currently fluctuating around 159.40, reflecting the market's balance between the market's expectations for the Bank of Japan's policy and geopolitical risks.
Analysis believes that even if the interest rate hike is implemented in April, the boost to the yen will be relatively limited, because the increase in energy costs caused by the conflict will directly worsen Japan's current account and be transmitted to the domestic producer price index through import prices. Traders are paying attention to the simultaneous evolution of oil prices and inflation data before and after the end-April meeting, as well as changes in the Bank of Japan's wording on second-round effects. These factors will dominate the medium-term fluctuation range of the yen exchange rate.
The above content is all about "[XM Foreign Exchange]: In the shadow of the Middle East conflict, the strength of the Japanese yen's support". It is carefully xmaccount.compiled and edited by the editor of XM Foreign Exchange. I hope it will be helpful to your trading! Thanks for the support!
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