Japan Unlikely to Follow Swiss Action on Franc: Analysts - CNBC.com

The Swiss National Bank's bold move to restrain the strength of its currency against the euro has sparked speculation in the markets that the move may prompt similar action by Japan’s monetary authorities.

But strategists CNBC spoke to say further intervention by the Bank of Japan to weaken the yen is unlikely, even if the Swiss maneuver prompts more safe-haven inflows into the Japanese currency.

Jesper Koll, Head of Japanese Equity Research at JPMorgan Securities Japan, says that with the Japanese economy on the rebound, there simply isn't enough urgency among policy makers despite the constant jaw-boning by officials.

"The real point is: when do corporate profits in Japan get squeezed to such an extent that...you have a national emergency?” Koll noted.

“If you look at corporate profit performance, if you look at the exporters, if you look at the machinery companies, if you look at the car companies, you actually do see that they're doing better than expected. So, dollar-yen is in the headline, but it's not really forcing the economic crunch here in Japan.”

On Tuesday, the Swiss National Bank said it would cap the Swiss franc's gains against the euro [EURCHF=R  Loading...      ()   ] at 1.20, sending the Swissie plummeting 10 percent against the single currency.

According to Kathy Lien, Director of Currency Research at Global Forex Trading, a similar dollar-yen arrangement does not make sense for Japan, especially from a trade perspective.

"Switzerland can establish a euro-Swiss peg because 70 percent of all their trade is done with the European Union. It does not make sense for the Japanese to establish a dollar-yen peg because less than 20 percent of their trade is done with the U.S.," Lien said. " So having a dollar-yen peg would not achieve the same results as having a euro-Swiss peg for the SNB."

The Bank of Japan has conducted two rounds of currency interventions so far this year, the first time in March and subsequently in August. Both rounds failed to keep the yen down for long. On Wednesday, dollar-yen [JPY=  Loading...      ()   ] continued to hover around the 77-handle, with the Japanese currency getting a slight boost after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged.

Experts say Japanese bonds continue to be seen as a safe haven asset among domestic investors, making it tougher on policy makers.

"The BOJ will have a little bit more difficulties because the size and liquidity of the Japanese government bonds market is actually a lot bigger than the Swiss National Bank's," said Kelvin Tay, Chief Investment Strategist, Singapore at UBS Wealth Management.

Koll says forex concerns are a less pressing problem for Japanese authorities, compared to addressing reconstruction issues following the earthquake and tsunami disasters in March.

"(It is) much more important for Japan, for the new finance minister....to actually present a package. Here is what Japan is doing to fund reconstruction, to get reconstruction going, and to work on a constructive and rational energy policy going forward," he said.

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