SINGAPORE (March 16): The Japanese yen is one of the world's pre-eminent safe haven currencies — typically expected to strengthen in times of market turmoil. "Investors shouldn’t bank on the yen returning as a safe haven during the current crisis," said Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics in Wellington. As oil prices tripled, Japanese inflation hit as much as 24.9% the following year, among the highest year-on-year increases in advanced economies. Interest rates losing influenceThe spread between Japanese ​and US 10-year bond yields ​was once a reliable indicator ⁠of the yen's direction, but no longer. Speculative positioning in the Japanese yen flipped long to short during the past year and is now finely balanced, with bearish bets slightly outnumbering bullish ones.

Source: The Edge Markets March 16, 2026 09:44 UTC