Dollar-Yen Stalls Amid Ongoing Middle East Tensions

The dollar-yen pair showed sluggish recovery momentum on February 19th in Tokyo foreign exchange trading, stalling around 159.30, near its day's lows.

While higher crude oil prices and US long-term yields underpin the dollar on the downside, the absence of fresh trading catalysts kept aggressive dollar buying subdued.

Market participants share the view that the dollar remains difficult to sell as long as Middle East tensions persist, though lingering concerns over potential Japanese currency intervention have also limited upside momentum.