USD/JPY hovers below 150.00 with focus on US NFP

• USD/JPY extends its losing streak for the fourth trading session and shifts below 150.00 ahead of US NFP.
• The US NFP report is expected to show slowing labor demand, a decline in wage growth, and a steady Unemployment Rate.
• BoJ’s hawkish monetary policy sparked strength in the Japanese Yen.

The USD/JPY pair trades inside Thursday’s trading range below the psychological figure of 150.00 in Friday’s late Asian session. The asset remains on the backfoot as Federal’s Reserve’s (Fed) expected dovish guidance on interest rates has dampened the US Dollar’s appeal. Also, sheer strength in the Japanese Yen due to Bank of Japan’s aggressive-than-expected policy-tightening has weighed on the major.

The market sentiment remains risk-off ahead of the release of the United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for July, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. S&P 500 futures have posted significant losses in the Asian trading hours.

Economists have estimated that 175K new workers were hired in July, lower than the former addition of 206K. The Unemployment Rate is expected to remain steady at 4.1%.

Investors will keenly focus on the Average Hourly Earnings data, a key measure to wage growth that fuels consumer spending which eventually influence price pressures. Annually, the wage growth measure is estimated to have decelerated to 3.9% from the prior reading of 3.7%, with monthly figure growing steadily by 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, edges lower to 104.23.

The Japanese Yen, however, is performing strongly since the BoJ raised interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) against estimated of 10 bps. Also, the BoJ pledged to halve bond-buying operations by early 2026. BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda kept door open for more rate hikes this year and remained confident on further increase in price pressures and an improvement in economic conditions.