This is the current USD-JPY mid-market exchange rate. The Total Cost of buying foreign currency in the above table is calculated as the sum of all fees and the exchange rate margin, which is the difference between the provider's exchange rate and the mid-market USD-JPY exchange rate.
Whenever you are researching a particular exchange rate you are actually interested in two currencies as the value of a currency must always be quoted relative to a second currency.
So it follows that if you are determining the best time to transact, in this case the USD vs JPY, you should pay attention to both United States Dollar and Japanese Yen news and forecasts.
26-January-19: 2018 was a reasonable year for the dollar. Measured by the US Dollar Index, the greenback appreciated by 4 percent, which was much better than 2017’s 10 percent loss. It was, though, something of a stuttering end to 2018 and the dollar has had mixed fortunes in early 2019.
In December, after lifting US interest rates to 2.25-2.5 percent, the Fed lowered its expectations for future hikes due to so-called “cross currents” (China, Brexit, trade wars etc.). Skepticism among analysts over future Fed hikes has for some time been the main reason for dollar pessimism for 2019, but now, there is also the prospect of a US economic slowdown to contend with.
“A slowdown in the economy is likely to weigh on USD particularly in the second half of this year,” a CIBC researcher said in January.
Of the same opinion was an expert at ING, who argued that the dollar is soon to “embark on a gradual long-term bearish trend.”
January’s extended US government shutdown also has dollar-negative ramifications. Not only is the shutdown likely to hit first-quarter GDP growth, disagreements within Congress bode poorly for the future of potentially inflationary fiscal spending.
2-February-2019: The yen was the best performing major currency of 2018.
In early 2019, amid a “flash crash” USD/JPY briefly struck a 9-month low (yen high) of 104.65, EUR/JPY reached 118.82 and AUD/JPY touched a 10-year low of 70.58. These values greatly flattered the yen and rebounds followed quickly. By early February, the yen was, on balance, back where it had ended 2018. USD/JPY, EUR/JPY and AUD/JPY stood at 109.52, 125.58 and 77.25 respectively.
Analysts appeared to agree in January that the yen would strengthen throughout 2019 and beyond.
Experts at giant European banks Deutsche Bank and Credit Agricole forecast USD/JPY at 100 at the end of this year, indicating a potential 10 percent increase in the yen’s buying power relative to the greenback.
100 yen to the US dollar was “very attainable,” Russell Investments said, “if there’s a severe slowdown in the US economy.”
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