USD/JPY Chart: Yen Exchange Rate and the Carry Trade
USD/JPY is the number of Japanese yen one US dollar buys. It is the market's main gauge of the yen carry trade, where investors borrow cheaply in yen to buy higher-yielding assets. When that trade unwinds, the yen jumps and risk assets like Bitcoin and the Nasdaq usually fall together. Daily data from 2000, refreshed twice a day.
Latest reading: USD/JPY closed at 157.96 yen per US dollar on 1 October 2026, up 6.7 percent over 12 months.
Trade USD/JPY long or short with a forex CFD account. CFDs are leveraged and most retail accounts lose money.
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USD/JPY daily close from 2000 (yen per US dollar). Hover for exact values. Use the zoom buttons to isolate the 2024 carry-trade unwind.
The yen carry trade, in plain terms
For most of the last decade Japan paid close to nothing to borrow. The Bank of Japan held its policy rate below zero from 2016 until March 2024, while US rates rose above 5 percent in 2023. That gap is the carry trade: borrow in yen at close to zero, convert to dollars, and buy something that yields more. It works for as long as the yen stays weak or keeps weakening.
The risk is asymmetric. The trade grinds out a small, steady return while the yen drifts lower, then gives much of it back in days when the yen snaps higher. A stronger yen raises the cost of repaying the loan, so leveraged holders cut positions in whatever is easiest to sell. That is why USD/JPY is on the screen of anyone trading risk assets, not only currency traders.
USD/JPY and Bitcoin: what the 2024 unwind showed
The cleanest recent example is July and August 2024. The Bank of Japan raised its rate on 31 July 2024, US jobs data disappointed on 2 August, and the carry trade unwound fast. On the Yahoo daily closes in this dataset, Bitcoin fell from about US$68,000 on 28 July to about US$54,000 on 5 August, a drop of roughly 21 percent, while USD/JPY kept falling into September.
The lesson I take from it is about positioning, not prediction. A sharp, fast fall in USD/JPY tells you leverage is being pulled out of the system. That does not say where Bitcoin goes over a cycle, but it is a reason to check your own leverage and liquidation levels when the yen starts moving hard. The daily liquidations tracker shows how that stress lands in crypto futures.
USD/JPY cycle history since 2000
| Period | Move | USD/JPY range | Backdrop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-2007 | Range | 102 to 135 | Zero rates in Japan, early carry trade build-up |
| 2008-2011 | Yen strength | 124 to 75.7 | GFC carry unwind, safe-haven buying of yen |
| Late 2012-2015 | Yen weakness | 80 to 125 | Abenomics and BoJ quantitative easing |
| 2016-2021 | Range | 100 to 121 | BoJ negative rates, yield curve control |
| 2022 | Yen weakness | 114 to 150 | Fed hikes while BoJ held; MoF intervention in October |
| 2024 | Spike then unwind | 162 to 141 | BoJ exits negative rates, July hike, carry unwind |
| 2025-2026 | Yen weakness | 141 to 164 | Rate gap persists; series high in July 2026 |
Methodology
- Source. Yahoo Finance ticker JPY=X, the USD/JPY spot rate, via the public chart endpoint.
- Dating. Each daily bar is dated in London time, where Yahoo's FX sessions are stamped. Weekend quotes are dropped so every row is a trading session.
- Update schedule. An automated refresh runs twice a day (07:30 and 13:30 Sydney) and the site rebuilds when the data changes.
- Quality check. Every refresh compares the latest close with the European Central Bank reference rate and raises an alert if they differ by more than 1.5 percent.
- Bitcoin comparison. The Bitcoin moves quoted on this page use Yahoo BTC-USD daily closes from the same dataset.
Related tools
- US economic calendar - FOMC, CPI and jobs dates that move USD/JPY, in Sydney time.
- US dollar index - the broad dollar measure.
- 10-year Treasury yield - the US side of the rate gap.
- AUD/USD - the other major Asia-Pacific risk currency.
- Nasdaq 100 - the equity index most exposed to carry-funded buying.
Frequently asked questions
USD/JPY closed at 157.96 yen per US dollar on 1 October 2026, up 6.7 percent over 12 months.
USD/JPY is how many Japanese yen one US dollar buys. A reading of 158 means US$1 = ¥158. A rising USD/JPY means the yen is weakening against the dollar; a falling USD/JPY means the yen is strengthening. The page's latest reading line shows the most recent daily close and its date.
Japan kept interest rates at or below zero from 2016 to March 2024, far below US and Australian rates. Investors borrowed yen cheaply, converted it, and bought higher-yielding assets such as US Treasuries, US tech stocks and, at the speculative end, crypto. The trade earns the rate difference as long as the yen stays weak. If the yen strengthens sharply, borrowers must buy yen back to repay, which means selling the assets they bought.
A fast drop in USD/JPY (yen strength) is often a sign the carry trade is unwinding. Leveraged funds sell liquid risk assets to repay yen loans, and Bitcoin trades 24/7, so it is often the first thing sold. In the August 2024 unwind, USD/JPY fell from 161.6 in early July to 140.8 by mid-September, and Bitcoin fell from about US$68,000 on 28 July to about US$54,000 on 5 August (Yahoo daily closes).
Mainly the gap between US and Japanese interest rates. When US rates rise relative to Japan's, the dollar strengthens against the yen. Bank of Japan policy changes, US inflation and jobs data, and Japanese Ministry of Finance intervention (selling dollars to support the yen, as it did in 2022 and 2024) are the main catalysts. The economic calendar on this site lists the US releases that move the pair.
Yahoo Finance ticker JPY=X (USD/JPY spot), daily closes dated in London time, fetched by an automated refresh twice a day (07:30 and 13:30 Sydney time). Weekend ticks are excluded so each row is a real trading session. Each run is cross-checked against the European Central Bank reference rate. If Yahoo is unreachable, the last good data is kept rather than showing a gap.
Yes. USD/JPY is one of the most liquid currency pairs and is offered by every ASIC-regulated forex and CFD broker. Retail leverage on major FX pairs is capped at 30:1 by ASIC. Forex trading is high risk and most retail CFD accounts lose money.
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