Dollar Lifted on BoJ’s Expectations

The U.S. Dollar moved higher against the Japanese Yen during the Asian trading session, with speculation still high that the Bank of Japan will intervene in the currency’s appreciation. The BoJ meets next week and is expected to announce new stimulus measures to help the export-driven economy. Analysts don’t believe that easing would result in a sharp drop in the Yen, however, as market players have already priced in much of that eventuality.

As reported at 1:19 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo the USD/JPY pair was trading a t 79.97 Yen a gain of 0.2% and approaching the 3-month peak of 80.02 Yen which was struck on Tuesday on the EBS trading platform. Analysts say that hedge fund operators helped to push the dollar higher, as well.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Dollar got a lift as the reserve bank kept interest rates unchanged and took on a more hawkish bias. The RBNZ said that inflation is likely to move back toward the midpoint of the bank’s 1-3% target range, disappointing investors who had hoped that low inflation could point to more stimulus. The NZD/USD was trading at $0.8220, a gain of 0.3% and well off the 6-week trough of $0.8100 struck earlier this week.