Japanese Yen exchange rate breaks 157, triggering a chain reaction! The window period before the "Triple Witching" in the crypto market

Wednesday’s financial markets collectively roiled. The Bank of Japan raised interest rates as scheduled but lacked a hawkish stance, directly triggering a plunge in the yen exchange rate—USD/JPY( climbed to 157.09, breaking the psychological level. This turning point is now influencing global capital flows.

Ambiguous Central Bank Rate Hike Signals Pressure Yen Exchange Rate

The Bank of Japan announced an increase in the benchmark interest rate to 0.75% (the highest since 1995), but Governor Ueda Kazuo’s wording lacked a clear commitment to future rate hikes. The market had expected more aggressive policy guidance, but that expectation was disappointed, prompting an immediate reaction—yen depreciated by 1.05%, with a clear upward trend in the US dollar.

The logic behind the yen’s weakness is straightforward: although the rate hike was in line with expectations, policymakers’ ambiguity about the next steps diminished demand for the yen. International capital began reallocating, flowing into risk assets.

Stock Futures Rise Together, Tech Stocks Lead

This increased risk appetite is first reflected in the US stock futures market. Before the opening on December 19, all three major indices futures rose: Dow futures up 0.14%, S&P 500 futures up 0.33%, Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.43%.

Specifically, Nvidia) NVDA( rose 1.36%, Tesla) TSLA( increased 1.13%, while Oracle) ORCL( jumped 5.95%—a gap up driven by positive news on TikTok transaction progress and OpenAI funding negotiations. The tech sector has become the main beneficiary of capital inflows driven by the yen’s depreciation.

“Triple Witching” Sparks Options Market, Volatility Rises

Today marks the “Triple Witching”) expiration of stock indices, individual stocks, and stock options(, a standard event on the last trading Friday of each quarter. According to Goldman Sachs data, over $7.1 trillion in notional value of options contracts will be closed today, setting a record, with about $5 trillion linked to the S&P 500 index.

What does this mean? Market trading volume and volatility will be significantly amplified. Analysts are currently watching the S&P 500’s support at 6800 points—this is the main battleground for bulls and bears today. A breach or breakthrough could trigger a chain reaction.

Crypto Assets Rebound, Next Cycle of Options Expiry Becomes Focus

The risk appetite unleashed by the yen’s depreciation has also swept into the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin) currently at $87,640(, up 0.14% over 24 hours), Ethereum( at $2,950), down 0.53% over 24 hours(. The entire crypto sector shows a rebound trend.

More notably, approximately $23 billion worth of Bitcoin options contracts are set to expire next Friday—this, combined with the “Triple Witching,” could further amplify market volatility. Investors should prepare for risk management in advance.

Precious Metals Diverge, Funds Shift to Valuation Valleys

The precious metals sector shows interesting divergence. Platinum and palladium have risen for the seventh consecutive day, with platinum up 0.66% at $1,962 per ounce. In contrast, gold, at a historic high, has entered consolidation or slight decline.

This reflects rational capital flow—some profit-taking from the already sky-high gold is shifting into relatively undervalued platinum and palladium, which have more room to rise. Such “sector rotation” is common when market risk appetite increases.

Summary: The breakthrough of the yen above 157 triggered today’s market chain reactions, boosting the appeal of dollar assets and activating multiple sectors including stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies. The volatility from “Triple Witching” is ongoing, and next week’s Bitcoin options expiry presents another trading window. Investors should closely monitor market performance around these two key time points.