• USD/JPY up to 159.99 EBS yesterday and 159.88-160.00 so far in Asia

• Intervention signal flashing red as Japan FinMin Katayama ready to act

• Katayama won't comment on specific FX levels but says will act appropriately

• Agrees with BOJ Gov Ueda on various issues, inflation impact of weak yen?

• Maybe agreement too on BOJ rate hike at June 15-16 Policy Board meeting

• 160.00 seen line in sand by market for Japan FX intervention currently

• Rises above could see action at any time

• Tech support at 159.37 daily Ichimoku tenkan, cloud 156.59-159.03

• Daily cloud to taper large from tomorrow to 157.86 over next week

• Hourly chart shows Ichimoku tenkan at 159.93, kijun 159.81, cloud 159.38-60

• Massive $1.7 bln option expiries today at 159.75, $1.3 bln below to 159.00

• Another $901 mln at 158.70, near current spot $901 mln between 159.90-160.00

• JGB-US Treasury 2-year rate diffs holding below recent highs around 263 bps

• Rate differential in 10s sharply wider from recent narrows to around 185 bps

• US-Iran impasse continues with reports of fresh incidents, crude prices high

• This to help keep USD bid alongside demand from many Tokyo players

• Related comments , , , also

• US markets , , ,

• On Katayama-speak , Fed , US economy

• On US-Iran , for more click on [FXBUZ]

USD/JPY:

(Haruya Ida is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)