Headlines:USD/JPY up 2% to 131.00 as yen capitulates furtherUSD/JPY hits 130.00 for the first time in 20 yearsBOJ plays a dangerous game, yen lock and loaded for the next leg lowerBOJ’s Kuroda: Desirable for currency to move stably reflecting economic fundamentalsBOJ’s Kuroda reaffirms bond market operations is to ensure cap on 10-year yields targetBOJ’s Kuroda: Consecutive bond buying operations is to avoid speculative market movesThe dollar is on a rampageNo red line being drawn yet on the yuan’s plungeSaxony April CPI +7.2% vs +7.0% y/y priorSpain April preliminary CPI +8.4% vs +9.0% y/y expectedOPEC+ said to be likely to stick with existing deal at next week’s meetingMarkets:USD leads, JPY lags on the dayEuropean equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 1.5%US 10-year yields up 0.4 bps to 2.822%Gold up 0.2% to $1,889.60WTI down 0.5% to $101.52Bitcoin up 1.4% to $39,682It’s all about the dollar again today with the yen’s capitulation also part of the picture, as the BOJ opts to maintain its yield curve control policy. That sent USD/JPY skyrocketing to its highest in two decades, with the pair rising above 130.00 to briefly clip 131.00 and is holding just below that now.The greenback’s strength was evident in the handover from Asia to Europe, helped by a continued depreciation in the Chinese yuan. Again, I feel this is something that many aren’t talking about but it is worth noting as it is feeding to further dollar gains this week.In that lieu, I’d argue the plunge in the yuan is also partly weighing on the aussie and kiwi – which are both struggling heavily today despite better equities sentiment.AUD/USD is down 0.5% to 0.7080 levels, as sellers eye a potential move towards 0.7000 again while NZD/USD is down 1.1% to 0.6470 levels, which is the weakest since July 2020.Meanwhile, EUR/USD is being pressured below 1.0500 as it trades to fresh five-year lows while GBP/USD is down another 110 pips to 1.2438 as the pound continues its freefall against the dollar.The bond market is taking a bit of a breather while equities are seeing a solid bounce to try and salvage some pride after what has been a torrid month of trading so far for stocks. European indices are holding gains well above 1% while US futures are also pointing to a solid open, helped by Meta’s earnings beat yesterday.

That means OPEC+ will agree to another 432k bpd oil output increase for June. The bloc is scheduled to meet on 5 May, so mark that in your calendars. That said, with the lack of enthusiasm to address the elephant in the room, OPEC+ meetings these days have been a real bore.But you can’t really blame them for being satisfied with oil prices at over $100 now, can you?

It didn’t take long for the dollar to regain its footing as it is now putting the pedal to the metal once again. EUR/USD is back down 0.5% to 1.0500 and GBP/USD is making fresh lows on the day, down 0.6% to 1.2465. I outlined the charts for both earlier here.Meanwhile, the aussie and kiwi have also lost ground with AUD/USD down 0.5% to 0.7090 and NZD/USD down 1.0% to 0.6475. I highlighted their respective technical predicaments earlier here.USD/JPY is also still sticking above 130.00 around 130.30-50 levels after briefly clipping 131.00.I talked more on the dollar’s rampaging run earlier in these posts:The dollar is on a rampageNo red line being drawn yet on the yuan’s plungeBOJ plays a dangerous game, yen lock and loaded for the next leg lowerDollar funding looking rather tight as of late

Nothing significant to really take note of for the day, as the dollar continues to surge higher across the board.The interesting thing to be aware of is again that there are no major expiries seen in and around USD/JPY on the way up, so that leaves plenty of room for price to roam more freely – at least one can interpret it that way.As mentioned earlier in the week, the dollar is pretty much in a league of its own at the moment and there isn’t much to really shake things up before the FOMC meeting on 4 May next week.For more information on how to use this data, you may refer to this post here.