Why hasn't the Japanese Yen been bought amid the tense situation in the Middle East?

As tensions in the Middle East escalate, the yen is depreciating further. Concerns over rising crude oil prices leading to a widening trade deficit in Japan have caused the once common phenomenon of “buying yen during crises” to disappear. Market focus is now on the “2022-style yen depreciation” triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Increasingly, opinions suggest that buying dollars and rising energy prices during extraordinary times will accelerate the selling of the yen.

“With the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz causing oil prices to rise and concerns mounting, there is no active atmosphere for buying yen,” explained a foreign exchange broker at a domestic Japanese bank about the market sentiment after early this week.

On March 3, in the London foreign exchange market, the yen weakened against the dollar to a range of 157.90 yen per dollar, the lowest level since February 9. It closed last weekend around 156 yen. The yen also depreciated against the Swiss franc to a low of about 203 yen per Swiss franc on the 2nd, and on the 3rd, it fell to a 1990s low against the Australian dollar.

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