Yen shorts fall out of fashion as recessionary fears end year’s hottest forex trade

The juiciest profits from betting against the yen — one of the hottest macro trades of 2022 — are a thing of the past, according to a growing cohort of strategists.

Three key pillars of the sell-the-yen trade — a widening U.S.-Japan interest-rate gap, soaring oil prices and the loss of the currency’s haven status — are crumbling, as growing recessionary fears keep a cap on yields, put pressure on crude and send investors back into the arms of traditional safe assets. Dollar-yen, which soared 38% from a March 2020 trough to mid-July this year, is in retreat.