Kickstart the North American FX session. The USDJPY is the big mover. The EUR and GBP are down modestly

AI summary

<p></p><p>Happy Labor Day to those traders in North America. </p><p>Although the US stock and bond markets are closed (and in Canada too), the forex market is up and alive.  The overall bias is to the downside with the USD is moving lower led by an oversized decline vs the JPY of -1.15% leading the declines. Some catalysts for the move: </p><ul><li>BOJ rate-hike expectations: Markets increasingly expect the Bank of Japan to raise rates by 25 basis points next week, with another potential increase later this year. </li><li>Narrowing yield spreads: Japanese yields are rising relative to U.S. yields. A narrower U.S.–Japan interest-rate advantage makes holding dollars against the yen less attractive. </li><li>Intervention concerns: Japan’s recent record yen-buying intervention remains fresh in traders’ minds. That is discouraging aggressive USDJPY buying and may be forcing some shorts in the yen to cover. </li><li>Carry-trade unwinding: Traders who borrowed cheap yen to buy higher-yielding assets are buying those yen back as the interest-rate outlook changes. </li><li>Technical momentum: USDJPY broke below support near 155.15, triggering stops and accelerating the decline toward 154.00. </li><li>Thin holiday liquidity: With U.S. markets closed for Labor Day, lighter liquidity may be magnifying the move.</li></ul><p>The greenback's move to the downside is more limited vs the EUR at -0.10% and the GBP at -0.12%</p><p>In the video above, I take a look at those three currency pairs f