The Japanese yen weakened against their major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday, as markets expect currency intervention by Japanese authorities to prop up the currency ahead of this week\'s Bank of Japan policy meeting.
Traders await the BOJ\'s two-day policy meeting starts on Thursday for cues on when the central bank will raise interest rates again.
The foreign exchange market intervention decisions are highly political in Japan. Japan lastly intervened in currency markets in September and October of 2022.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday, \"We are watching market moves with a high sense of urgency,\".
Easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, also led to the slide of the currency.
The Asian stock markets traded higher, as data showing a slowdown in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of April raised hopes the U.S. Fed will start thinking of cutting interest rates soon. Traders also continue to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels after the recent sell-off.
Traders now await more economic data later in the week, including the release of first-quarter U.S. GDP data as well as the core personal-consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which is the Fed\'s preferred measure of inflation. This ahead of the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on April 30-May 1.
In economic news, data from the Bank of Japan showed that the producer prices in Japan were up 2.3 percent on year in March. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 2.1 percent and was up from the upwardly revised 2.2 percent gain in February.
On a monthly basis, producer prices climbed 0.8 percent - accelerating from 0.3 percent in the previous month.
In the Asian trading today, the yen declined to a 34-year low of 154.95 against the U.S. dollar and nearly a 17-year low of 113.38 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday\'s closing quotes of 154.82 and 113.30, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 156.00 against the greenback and 115.00 against the loonie.
Against the euro and the pound, the yen slid to a 16-year low of 165.85 and a 2-week low of 192.96 from Tuesday\'s closing quotes of 165.65 and 192.73, respectively. The yen is likely to find support around 167.00 against the euro and 194.00 against the pound.
The yen edged down to 169.88 against the Swiss franc, from yesterday\'s closing value of 169.77, respectively. On the downside, 171.00 is seen as the next support level for the yen.
Looking ahead, Germany Ifo business climate index for April and U.K. Confederation of British Industry\'s industrial trends survey results for April are due to be released in the European session.
In the New York session, U.S. MBA mortgage approvals data, Canada retail sales data for February, manufacturing sales data for March, U.S. durable goods orders for March and U.S. EIA crude oil data are slated for release.