• USD/JPY remains just shy of 147.00 following last week’s declines.
• Japan’s Q4 GDP print early Monday missed the mark.
• US CPI inflation is expected to come in mixed.

USD/JPY kicked off the new week on the low side of the 147.00 handle, with the pair steeply off of March’s early highs above 150.00. Markets are geared up for Tuesday’s US CPI inflation print as investors continue to seek out signs the Federal Reserve (Fed) could be pushed into early rate cuts if inflation eases off rapidly enough.

Japan’s Q4 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) print came in below expectations, but managed to recover from the previous QoQ decline of -0.1%. Q4 GDP printed at 0.1%, missing the forecast 0.3%. Annualized Q4 GDP in Japan also missed the mark, coming in at 0.4% versus the forecast rebound of 1.1%, though GDP growth still improved from the previous figure of -0.4%.

US CPI Preview: Forecasts from 10 major banks, inflation still too high

February’s US MoM CPI print is expected to accelerate to 0.4% from 0.3% as uneven inflation continues to weigh. Core MoM CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, is expected to tick down to 0.3% from 0.4%. 

Annualized CPI is forecast to hold at 3.1% with Core YoY CPI expected to  come in at 0.3% versus the previous 0.4%.