{"id":30174,"date":"2026-03-09T05:00:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T05:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/30174\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T05:00:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T05:00:29","slug":"during-asian-trading-usd-jpy-climbs-near-158-60-as-safe-haven-demand-lifts-the-dollar-amid-iran-war-escalation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/30174\/","title":{"rendered":"During Asian trading, USD\/JPY climbs near 158.60, as safe-haven demand lifts the Dollar amid Iran war escalation"},"content":{"rendered":"USD\/JPY rose for a third session, trading near 158.60 in Asian hours on Monday as the US Dollar gained on safe-haven demand. The Iran war entered its second week with no clear outcome. \n\nMojtaba Khamenei was appointed Iran\u2019s supreme leader just over a week after Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes. Donald Trump said the appointment would be \u201cunacceptable\u201d and suggested the US should have a role in choosing Iran\u2019s next supreme leader. \n\n

Safe Haven Demand Lifts The Dollar<\/h3> \nThe US Dollar also drew support as WTI crude oil moved above $100.00 per barrel on fears the conflict could disrupt global energy supplies. Trump called higher oil prices a \u201cvery small price to pay\u201d for defeating Iran and ensuring global peace. \n\nTraders also adjusted inflation expectations after the outbreak of hostilities last week, supporting views that the Federal Reserve may delay interest rate cuts. This added to the US Dollar\u2019s strength against the Yen. \n\nJapan\u2019s Labour Cash Earnings rose 3% year-on-year in January 2026 after a 2.5% rise in December 2025. Japan\u2019s Current Account surplus was \u00a5941.6B in January versus \u00a5960.0B expected, and up from \u00a5728.8B previously.\n\nWith the conflict in Iran entering its second week, we see the US Dollar strengthening as a primary safe-haven asset. The surge in WTI crude oil above $100 per barrel, a level not consistently seen since the energy crisis of 2022, is fueling this demand for dollars. This geopolitical tension is currently the single most important factor driving currency markets.\n\n

Rate Expectations And Intervention Risk<\/h3> \nThe inflationary shock from higher energy costs is forcing a rapid recalculation of the Federal Reserve’s plans. We have seen fed funds futures shift dramatically in the past week, with the market now pricing in less than a 20% chance of a rate cut before the third quarter of 2026. This reinforces the interest rate advantage the US Dollar holds over other major currencies.\n\nFor the USD\/JPY pair, this has created a powerful upward trend, pushing it towards the 160 level. While the Yen is traditionally a safe haven, the widening gap between US and Japanese interest rate expectations is the dominant force. We must remain highly alert for intervention, as Japanese authorities previously stepped in to defend the Yen back in 2022 and 2024 when the pair crossed the 150-152 range.\n\nGiven the high probability of sudden, sharp moves, buying outright spot positions is risky. We should consider using options to manage this uncertainty, such as purchasing USD\/JPY call options to gain upside exposure while strictly capping potential losses if intervention does occur. Market volatility has also spiked, with the VIX, a key measure of fear, jumping over 30% last week, making strategies that profit from price swings attractive.\n\nFinally, we cannot ignore domestic Japanese data, which shows a significant 3% rise in labor cash earnings for January. This is the strongest wage growth we have seen in several years and could pressure the Bank of Japan to adopt a more hawkish stance later this year. For now, the global crisis is in control, but this underlying domestic strength could cause a rapid reversal in USD\/JPY if geopolitical tensions ease.\n\nCreate your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b>\n

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Start trading now – Click here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

USD\/JPY climbed near 158.60 as safe-haven dollar demand rose amid Iran war and oil surge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}