The Federal Reserve is the "Hidden Puppet Master"
Market focus is currently locked on the Bank of Japan's interest rate decision on December 19th. However, the real determinant of the yen's fate may not be the Bank of Japan itself.
According to analysts, the Federal Reserve will announce its own interest rate decision one week before the Bank of Japan's meeting. This means the Bank of Japan will likely have to adjust its strategy based on the Federal Reserve's stance. In simple terms: if the Federal Reserve holds steady, the Bank of Japan will face enormous pressure to raise rates; conversely, once the Federal Reserve begins cutting rates, the Bank of Japan will have even more reason to delay rate hikes.
The latest market survey results show that investors' expectations for the Bank of Japan raising rates in December or January are nearly evenly split, both around 50%. Carol Kong, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, believes that the cautious Bank of Japan may choose to "wait and see," taking action only after the Diet approves the budget bill. The benefit of this approach is to buy time for subsequent wage negotiations to observe