Hedge funds turned bullish on the yen just before dovish comments from Japan’s new prime minister and a robust US jobs report sparked the Japanese currency’s worst week since late 2009.
Speculative investors switched to a net long position on the yen for the first time since mid-August, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data for the week to October 1 showed. The purchase came just before Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the country was not ready for further rate hikes.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls data that topped all estimates further boosted demand for the dollar, prompting markets to price another major interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next month.
