Two central banks, same week, same squeeze.
The Bank of Japan spent years holding rates at zero and flooding the system with yen. Now Governor Ueda and board member Takata are both floating a larger-than-usual hike at the September 18 meeting. Markets have moved the odds sharply higher than they stood a month ago. USD/JPY crashed from 163.98 to 155.23 in the days after Ueda's first hawkish signal in late July. It recovered most of the way back to 160 by mid-August, then broke down again this week as the BOJ resumed its hawkish commentary. The yen is now retesting the same low twice, and the positioning behind it is even more crowded than it was the first time.
USD / Japanese Yen, 1-day chart, Sep 04, 2026
