Hedge funds ramped up bearish yen wagers in the week stretching through the Bank of Japan’s March meeting, when officials ended the world’s last negative rate-regime but pledged an accommodative stance that dragged the Japanese currency to 2024 lows.
Leveraged speculators in the currency market increased their holdings of contracts tied to bets that the Japanese currency will fall to 80,805, approaching the six-year high of 83,562 reached last month, according to data through Tuesday from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — the week culminating in the day when BOJ ended its negative rates policy in Japan.
The yen fell more than 1% against the dollar following the conclusion of the central bank’s meeting Tuesday, and is now set for a second weekly drop.