JAPANESE YEN CONSOLIDATES AROUND 150.00 AGAINST USD, BEARISH BIAS REMAINS

• The Japanese Yen ticks lower in the wake of the BoJ policy uncertainty and the risk-on mood.
• Friday’s disappointing US data keeps the USD bulls on the defensive and might cap USD/JPY.
• Traders look to the Tokyo CPI report on Tuesday ahead of this week’s key US economic data.

The Japanese Yen (JPY) kicks off the new week on a softer note and remains depressed below the 150.00 psychological mark against its American counterpart during the Asian session. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated on Friday that it was too early to declare victory on inflation. This comes on the back of a technical recession in Japan, which could force the BoJ to delay its plan to tighten the monetary policy. Apart from this, the prevalent risk-on environment is seen undermining the safe-haven JPY. Investors, however, seem convinced that the BoJ will exit negative interest rates if wage negotiations result in bumper pay hikes. This is holding back traders from placing aggressive bearish bets around the JPY.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar (USD) is weighed down by Friday's disappointing macro data and less hawkish comments by a slew of influential Federal Reserve (Fed) officials. Traders also seem reluctant and prefer to wait for more clues about the timing of when the Fed will begin cutting interest rates, which further contributes to capping the upside for the USD/JPY pair. There isn't any relevant market-moving US economic data due for release on Monday and hence, the focus will remain glued to the release of the Tokyo Core CPI report on Tuesday. Investors this week will seek further cues from Fed Chair Jerome Powell's semi-annual congressional testimony on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) on Friday.