{"id":31060,"date":"2026-03-19T01:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T01:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/31060\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T01:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T01:59:13","slug":"following-the-feds-hawkish-hold-usd-jpy-climbed-0-40-hovering-near-159-60-and-targeting-160-amid-volatility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/31060\/","title":{"rendered":"Following the Fed\u2019s hawkish hold, USD\/JPY climbed 0.40%, hovering near 159.60 and targeting 160 amid volatility"},"content":{"rendered":"USD\/JPY rose by nearly 0.40% on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and projected only one rate cut in 2026. The pair traded near 159.60 and was volatile, with prices around 159.81 on the daily chart.\n\nJerome Powell said policy decisions would be taken meeting by meeting and that the current stance is appropriate. He said officials are watching for progress in goods inflation and that limited progress could delay a rate cut.\n\nPowell said tariff-related inflation may take more time to improve. He also said the economy is doing pretty well, and that the effects of the Middle East conflict are unknown.\n\nThe Fed decision had one dissenter, Governor Stephen Miran. The Fed\u2019s projections show one 25-basis-point rate cut in 2026 and one in 2027.\n\nUS growth is forecast at 2.4% in 2026 and 2.3% the year after. Inflation is projected to rise from 2.4% to 2.7%, while underlying prices are seen at 2.7%, up from 2.5%.\n\nJapan\u2019s calendar includes Industrial Production data and the Bank of Japan policy decision on Thursday, with rates expected to stay unchanged. The timing was corrected on March 18 at 21:16.\n\nTechnical levels cited include support at 159.00, then 156.50 and 154.50, with resistance near 160.50 and 161.50. RSI was 67, with an uptrend supported from 152.10.\n\nBased on yesterday&#8217;s events, the Federal Reserve has signaled a stronger US dollar for the foreseeable future. They are now projecting only one interest rate cut for 2026, which is a major shift that supports a higher USD\/JPY exchange rate. This hawkish stance means the interest rate difference between the US and Japan will remain wide.\n\nWe should position for continued yen weakness against the dollar. The recent US inflation data for February 2026 came in at a stubborn 3.4%, giving the Fed little reason to soften its stance. This has pushed the US 10-year Treasury yield up to 4.8%, widening the gap with Japan&#8217;s 10-year bond, which sits at just 1.1%.\n\nThe focus now shifts to the Bank of Japan&#8217;s decision later today, though we anticipate they will hold rates steady. Looking back at their slow pace of policy normalization throughout 2025, a surprise hawkish move seems unlikely. Any confirmation of their cautious stance will likely add more fuel to the USD\/JPY rally.\n\nFor derivatives, buying USD\/JPY call options for the coming weeks seems like a clear strategy. We are targeting the resistance levels of 160.50 and then 161.50 as potential take-profit zones. However, we must be mindful that the last time we saw these levels back in 2024, Japanese authorities intervened, so we will manage risk accordingly.\n<p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Start trading now &#8211; Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/trade-now\/\">here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>USD\/JPY jumped near 159.60 after Fed held rates, signaled fewer cuts; BoJ decision and data awaited.<\/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-31060","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\/31060","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=31060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31060\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}