EUR/JPY strengthens to near 171.00 amid uncertainty about timing of BoJ's next rate hike

• EUR/JPY trades on a positive note around 171.00 in Monday's Asian session.
• BoJ's Ueda said he will carefully consider rate hike timing.
• The ECB is expected to delay its rate cuts this year. 

The EUR/JPY cross gains momentum to near 171.00 during the Asian trading hours on Monday. The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakens against the Euro (EUR) amid reduced Bank of Japan (BoJ) rate hike expectations and political uncertainty in Japan. BoJ Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes will be released later on Tuesday.

BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda last week left investors guessing about the timing of the BoJ's next interest rate hike with remarks that lowered expectations of a near-term move and depreciated the JPY. Ueda said that the Japanese central bank will carefully assess the timing of its next policy interest rate hike, as uncertainty over economic and price trends in Japan and overseas remains high. Additionally, domestic political instability after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's loss in the July 20 polls could complicate BoJ's job further and might contribute to the JPY's downside. 

On the Euro's front, the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to delay its rate cuts this year as inflation is projected to remain above the ECB's near-term forecasts. Furthermore, the upbeat GDP data from the Eurozone indicated that businesses are adapting to trade uncertainty. Traders will take more cues from the Eurozone Retail Sales data for June, which will be published later on Thursday.