Commerzbank analyst Volkmar Bauer said in a report that the yen could weaken if the Bank of Japan keeps interest rates unchanged on Tuesday and remains cautious about future rate hikes. He stated that the market expects the Bank of Japan to give a fairly clear signal that a rate hike is possible in June—at least assuming a de-escalation of the conflict with Iran by then. If this signal fails to materialize, the Ministry of Finance's warnings about intervention to support the yen will "no longer be very helpful." Bauer said that in this scenario, the USD/JPY exchange rate could rise above 160. (Jinshi)