The USD/JPY pair climbs to near 149.65 during the early Asian session on Monday. The Japanese Yen (JPY) faces some selling pressure against the Greenback after a ruling-party vote for Sanae Takaichi to become Japan's next Prime Minister.
Reuters reported on Sunday that Japan's ruling party elected Sanae Takaichi as its new leader on Saturday, positioning the 64-year-old to become Japan's first female Prime Minister. A vote in parliament to replace outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is scheduled for October 15. Takaichi is favoured as the ruling coalition has the largest number of seats.
The victory of Takaichi raises the chance that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will avoid raising interest rates this month, weighing on the JPY and acting as a tailwind for the pair. "Takaichi is not seen as supportive of interest rate hikes, which could make it more difficult for the BOJ to proceed with tightening," said Kazutaka Maeda, an economist at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute.
On the USD's front, fears of a prolonged US government shutdown might cap the upside for the pair. The US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report for September was due to be published on Friday, but was not released due to the government closure. If the shutdown lasts for a long time, investors will begin to question governability in the US. The rate futures market has priced in about 47 basis points (bps) of rate cuts for the remainder of the year, or just under two reductions, according to LSEG calculations.
Source: FXstreet.com
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