USD/JPY 5 mins chart
- Economy is progressing in line with our forecast
- Our confidence has grown in the achievement of price target
- This confirms economy is proceeding based on existing price outlook
- There is no change in our stance to carefully examine price trends
- Cannot fully grasp impact of earthquakes in Western Japan region just yet
If you put together the remarks from his press conference so far today, there is a distinct narrative that he is pushing. That being the central bank is feeling "confident" about achieving the 2% inflation target, as the likelihood of that has "risen gradually".
Yen traders are taking that as a cue from Ueda to mean that they will follow through with a policy change in March or April, after the results of the spring wage negotiations.
Edit (0650 GMT): USD/JPY now extending losses to 147.34 on the day, contesting a break of its 100-day moving average of 147.50.