Yen extends post-BoJ gains

The yen set an 18-month high against the dollar on Friday, staying firm in the wake of the Bank of Japan’s ‘s decision the previous day to hold off from expanding its monetary stimulus.

On Thursday, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda had left the door open for more stimulus, stressing there were no limits to what monetary policy can do to address strong risks to the economic and inflation outlook.

The dollar’s drop gained momentum after it breached a low of 107.63 yen set earlier in April.

The dollar slid to as low as 107.075 yen, the greenback’s weakest level since October 2014. The dollar was last trading at 107.19 yen, down 0.8 percent on the day, following on from a 3.0 percent fall on Thursday.

The yen also pushed higher against the euro, which fell 0.6 percent to 122.13 yen. On Thursday, the euro had shed 2.7 percent versus the yen.

The force of the yen’s gains are likely to make Japanese policymakers uneasy, and analysts were watching out for any efforts by Japanese officials to talk the currency down. Japanese financial markets were shut on Friday for a public holiday.

Not helping the greenback, data released on Thursday confirmed what many already suspected, that U.S. economic growth nearly stalled in the first quarter. The economy grew at a paltry 0.5 percent annualised pace, braking sharply from 1.4 percent.

Given that backdrop, the Federal Reserve might be in no hurry to deliver the next hike in rates, traders said.
Underscoring the dollar’s soft tone, the euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.1393.

The Australian dollar gained 0.5 percent against the greenback to $0.7663.

China’s official survey on manufacturing activity due on Sunday should set the tone for early next week.

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