USD/JPY hovers near seven-week high around 149.00 in countdown to FOMC Minutes

• USD/JPY clings to gains near 149.00 with FOMC minutes on the horizon.
• The US core CPI is expected to have grown at a steady pace of 3.2% in September.
• The Japanese Yen will be influenced by the PPI data for September.

The USD/JPY pair remains firm near a seven-week high around 149.00 in Wednesday's North American session. The asset exhibits strength ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes for the September meeting, which will be published at 18:00 GMT.

In the policy meeting, the Fed reduced its key borrowing rates by 50 basis points (bps) to 4.75%-5.00%. This was the first dovish decision by the Fed in more than two-and-a-half years as officials were worried about deteriorating labor demand with increasing confidence that inflation would return sustainably to the bank's target of 2%.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar (USD) performs strongly as market participants are not expecting the Fed to cut interest rates again by 50 bps in November. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which gauges Greenback's value against six major currencies, posts a fresh seven-week high near 102.80.

Investors will pay close attention to the FOMC minutes to get views of all officials about the likely interest rate action in the last quarter of the year. According to the CME FedWatch tool, traders have priced in two rate cuts of 25 bps in each of the remaining two meetings this year.

Going forward, the major trigger for the US Dollar will be the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for September, which will be published on Thursday. The core CPI -which excludes volatile food and energy prices - is estimated to have grown steadily by 3.2%.

On the Tokyo front, investors will focus on Japan's Producer Price Index (PPI) data for September, which will be published on Thursday. Prices of goods and services at factory gates are estimated to have risen at a slower pace of 2.3% from 2.5% in August. Signs of producer inflation remaining persistent would prompt expectations of more hikes by the Bank of Japan (BoJ).