FX.co ★ Yen Rises as Oil, Dollar Retreat

The Japanese yen strengthened toward 159 per dollar on Tuesday, snapping a three-day losing streak as both the dollar and oil prices eased amid growing expectations that a US-Iran agreement could eventually be reached. President Donald Trump said Tehran had reached out to Washington just hours after the US imposed a naval blockade on Iranian oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also declared that Iran is ready to continue peace talks, provided they remain within the framework of international law. The yen also gained support from intervention concerns as it approached the key 160-per-dollar level, a threshold that previously prompted Japanese authorities to step in to stabilize the currency. Meanwhile, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Monday stressed the need to stay vigilant about the economic fallout from the Iran conflict, cautioning that higher oil prices could weigh on Japan’s growth outlook.