Derek Halpenny, Head of Research Global Markets EMEA &amp; International Securities sits down with James Roulston in FX Institutional Sales to discuss the FX and rates impact following the much weaker than expected US jobs report. Derek also outlines the implications for USD/JPY following the joint intervention last week and highlights using historic examples why joint intervention matters but policy and fundamentals matter more.

US joining JPY intervention matters but policy & fundamentals matter more

The MUFG Global Markets Podcast

Welcome to the MUFG Global Markets FX Week Ahead Podcast with Derek Halpenny, Head of Research, Global Markets EMEA and International Securities. It's Friday, 7 August 2026 and joining Derek to post some questions on the financial market themes for the week ahead is James Rolston, Vice President, FX Institutional Sales.

This podcast is only intended for professional investors in jurisdictions in which its use is permitted under applicable laws, rules and regulations. It has been produced for information purposes only and should not be construed as investment research or advice. MUFG EMEA disclaimers and disclosures can be located on our website.

Happy Friday, Derek. Thank you very much for joining me. Yes, same to you, James. If possible, we've just had the payroll numbers come out. Can we just quickly run through what you took from it? Yeah, wow. You know, what a figure. Like I remember many years ago, a figure like this would have caused absolute carnage on the trading floor. But you know, the front end on two year yield in the US is down six, seven basis points.

So the reaction, you could argue, has certainly been a bit muted. You know, looking at the details, you know, clearly, obviously, the NFP itself was what was very negative. There was a big drop in government jobs, which looks related to local government education, which could be volatile during the summer period. So maybe the markets are a little bit skeptical about that. The unemployment rate dropped.

Kevin Hassett has been out talking about baby boomers retiring early. And certainly, you know, when you look at the unemployment rate and how that was derived over the last two months, there's been the labor force shrinking by a million and employment shrinking by 600,000.

US joining JPY intervention matters but policy & fundamentals matter more

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

US joining JPY intervention matters but policy & fundamentals matter more

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.