The yen weakened to its lowest since November as traders shifted their focus from a hawkish Federal Reserve to Friday’s Bank of Japan policy decision.
The Japanese currency fell as much as 0.7% to 141.04 per dollar, triggering comments from Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno that excessive movements weren’t desirable. Last month when the yen weakened to similar levels, officials from the BOJ, the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Services Agency held an unscheduled meeting.
“Given the market moves and the Fed’s policy outlook, there is growing possibility that the three-way meeting will be held and such concern will probably grow in the market,” said Takeshi Ishida, currency strategist at Resona Bank Ltd. “However, the upside of the dollar-yen may be limited as the US Treasury yields haven’t risen that much.”
A hawkish stance from Fed officials on Thursday stands in sharp contrast to BOJ policymakers who have stuck with monetary easing. The Fed projected borrowing costs will go higher than previously seen, while almost all of the economists surveyed by Bloomberg see the BOJ leaving its ultra loose policy unchanged Friday.
Last year, a move toward 146 per dollar triggered Japan’s first intervention to prop up the yen since 1998, though in the build up to that there were repeated officials warning about direct action. The yen has fallen about 7% this year.
