USD/JPY fails to rally beyond 153.00, remains steady above 152.40

• The Dollar consolidates gains above 152.40 against the Yen, on track for its best weekly performance this year.
• A Takaichi aide said on Thursday that the BoJ needs to be "careful about rising rates".
• The Focus today is on the speeches from Fed Chairman Powell and Vice Chair for Supervision, Michelle Bowman.

The US Dollar is trimming some gains against the Japanese Yen on Thursday, after failing to find acceptance beyond 153.00 at the European session opening. The pair, however, remains consolidating near nine-month highs, with downside attempts contained above 152.40 for now.

Investors remain concerned that the unexpected victory of Sanae Takaichi in the ruling LDP elections this weekend will open a period of a looser fiscal policy and pressure on the Bank of Japan to keep an expansive monetary policy.

Pressures on the BoJ to keep interest rates at low levels

Those fears were confirmed on Thursday after Etsuro Honda, an economic adviser to the new LDP leader and highly likely next PM Takaichi, affirmed that the Bank of Japan should "be careful about raising interest rates".

Honda affirmed that the timing for the next rate hike remains unclear and stated that a weak Yen is positive for economic recovery, adding pressure on the BoJ to delay further monetary tightening plans.

In the US, the minutes of the September Fed meeting have failed to alter the view that the bank will cut interest rates again in October and, highly likely, also in December.

In the absence of key fundamental US releases to contrast those views, amid the US Government shutdown, traders will be looking at the speeches of Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell and the Vice Chair for Supervision, Michelle Bowman, due later today.