{"id":43838,"date":"2026-03-31T10:43:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/43838\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:43:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:43:31","slug":"during-european-trading-usd-jpy-slips-towards-159-60-reflecting-hopes-for-peace-in-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/43838\/","title":{"rendered":"During European trading, USD\/JPY slips towards 159.60, reflecting hopes for peace in the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"USD\/JPY edged down to about 159.60 in European trade on Tuesday, as the US Dollar was muted after a Wall Street Journal report on US President Donald Trump and the conflict with Iran. The report said Trump is willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed.  \n\nThe report also said Trump does not plan to extend hostilities beyond four to six weeks. It added that Tehran\u2019s navy and missile infrastructure has been damaged.  \n\n<h3>Market Reaction And Risk Tone<\/h3>\nAt the time of writing, S&#038;P 500 futures were higher and the US Dollar Index was almost flat near 100.45. This followed easing tensions affecting broader market mood.  \n\nOil prices were expected to stay high due to Iran\u2019s continued control over the Strait of Hormuz, keeping inflation forecasts elevated. The market had already reduced expectations for two US Federal Reserve rate cuts this year after the conflict began.  \n\nThe Japanese Yen was firmer, supported by expectations that the Bank of Japan will keep raising rates. A BoJ Summary of Opinions from the March meeting, released on Monday, said several policymakers saw scope for near-term rate increases.  \n\nThe divergence between the Bank of Japan&#8217;s hawkish tone and a Federal Reserve pinned by inflation is the central play. With the USD\/JPY pair sensitive to these shifts, we believe options strategies are prudent to manage potential volatility. This setup allows for profiting from a downward move while capping risk if the situation suddenly reverses.  \n\n<h3>Positioning And Options Strategy<\/h3>\nWe are seeing US inflation remain stubbornly high, with the February 2026 CPI print coming in at 3.8%, well above the Fed&#8217;s target. This persistence is directly linked to WTI crude holding over $110 a barrel due to the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It feels similar to the energy price shock we experienced back in 2022 after the conflict in Ukraine began.  \n\nOn the other side, the Bank of Japan&#8217;s recent messaging is now being taken seriously by the market. In fact, overnight swaps are pricing in a 75% probability of a 25 basis point rate hike at the next meeting in April. This fundamental shift provides a strong tailwind for the Yen, which we haven&#8217;t seen for years.  \n\nGiven this outlook, we are positioning for a stronger Yen by buying USD\/JPY put options. This strategy allows us to capitalize on a potential move down towards the 155-157 range over the next four to six weeks. The defined risk of an options contract is especially attractive considering the headline risk from the Middle East.  \n\nThe key risk to this view is a complete de-escalation where the Strait of Hormuz reopens, causing a collapse in oil prices. This scenario, which we saw priced out during late 2025, would likely reignite Fed rate cut expectations and send USD\/JPY sharply higher. Using long put positions ensures our potential losses are limited to the premium paid if this risk-on outcome materializes.\n\n<b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\/\">Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.vtmarkets.com\/login\">start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b>\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 slipped to 159.60 as dollar steadied after report Trump seeks Iran war end soon.<\/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-43838","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\/43838","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=43838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}