Yen slide: Levels to watch ahead of new record low vs dollar

The Japanese yen held 26 May's eight-year low as the Bank of Japan's policy minutes released early on 27 May showed that the central bank is uncertain if it can achieve the 2% inflation target in time.

USD/JPY traded in a range of 123.32-122.77 by mid-day in Europe, just a pip short of the peak on Tuesday, on which day the Japanese unit fell 1.24%. So far in May, the yen has fallen more than 3%.

Japanese policy makers were concerned that the risks to prices in the country were on the downside. They also said that if the CPI inflation fell to zero, it would affect inflation expectations. The March CPI rate was just 0.2%.

Board member Takehiro Sato proposed changing the central bank's wording to "aiming" for the target, instead of "achieving" it, reflecting the scepticism among some policymakers about the inflationary scenario of the country.

The USD/JPY pair is now targeting 124.75, the 2007 high, and a break of that will hit a 13-year high.

The big picture analysis shows that a break of the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the 2002-2011 selloff that happened late last year had opened doors to new records on the higher side but the move has not gathered momentum to break the 2007 high yet.

Still, this week's jump seems to have the vigour to break through that barrier. The first level then to watch will be 130.0 ahead of 132.0 but both are likely to be weak resistances if 124.75 is broken with sufficient strength.

The next important target will be the 2002 February all-time record of 135.05.

Against the pound too the yen has fallen to a multi-year low on Wednesday. GBP/JPY soared to 190.32, its highest since September 2008, from the previous close of 189.38.

The next key level for the pound yen cross is 200.0 on the higher side but 192.50 may be watched ahead of that.