USD/JPY moves higher to 157.70 as Fed policymakers see only one rate cut this year. The USD Index will dance to the tunes of the US Retail Sales data for May. The BoJ postpones tapering the amount of bond-buying to the July meeting. The USD/JPY pair jumps to 157.70 in Monday’s European session as the US Dollar holds strength due to a hawkish outlook on interest rates by Federal Reserve’s officials.
The CME FedWatch tool shows high possibility of two rate cuts this year and policymakers will return to policy-normalization from the September meeting. This week, investors will focus on the US monthly Retail Sales data for May to get more cues on the interest rate outlook. The Retail Sales data, which is a leading indicator of consumer spending, is expected to have increased by 0.3% after remaining stagnant in April.