Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said that inflation is moving towards hitting the target. However, he warned of global uncertainty that may deter companies from raising wages. Thus, the question of an interest rate hike in October remains open. Ueda reiterated the central bank's determination to keep raising still-low rates if the economy and prices develop as forecast. While any delay in data from the U.S. would be a "serious" problem, the BOJ will analyze other available data to compensate for the gap, Ueda said at a press conference after the speech.

Against this background, the local growth of the US dollar against the Japanese yen paused. In case of renewed decline in the pairUSD/JPY, support may be met in the area of 146.00.