Deutsche Bank: If the Bank of Japan does not clearly signal an interest rate hike, the yen may decline

In a report, Deutsche Bank analyst Folkmar Bauer stated that if the Bank of Japan maintains its interest rates on Wednesday and adopts a cautious stance on future rate hikes, the yen may weaken. He noted that the market expects the Bank of Japan to provide a fairly clear signal indicating a possible rate hike in June—at least provided that the conflict in Iran has eased by then.

If this signal does not materialize, the Japanese Ministry of Finance's warning about intervention to support the yen will "no longer be of much help." Bauer mentioned that in this scenario, the USD/JPY could rise above 160.