The
yen approached a seven-year low versus the dollar before Bank of Japan
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks today, as policy diverges from the
Federal Reserve.
The
euro maintained gains from yesterday versus its major peers after
European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann said
expanding bond purchases to government debt would face œlegal hurdles.
New Zealand™s dollar held its first decline in three days before a
quarterly Reserve Bank survey of inflation expectations. The BOJ today
releases minutes of its Oct. 31 meeting, when it surprised markets by
expanding stimulus two days after the Fed ended its bond-buying program.
The
yen slipped 0.1 percent to 118.43 per dollar at 8:47 a.m. in Tokyo from
yesterday, when it fell 0.4 percent. It reached 118.98 on Nov. 20, the
weakest since August 2007. The yen was little changed at 147.26 per
euro, after yesterday™s 0.8 percent slide. The euro traded at $1.2434
from $1.2442.
The
BOJ last month lifted the annual target for enlarging the monetary base
to 80 trillion yen ($675 billion), from 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion
yen. The policy board voted to retain the plan at the end of a two-day
meeting on Nov. 19. Kuroda is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. in Nagoya
today.
The
Fed is moving to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006
after curtailing its quantitative-easing program. Futures traders
predict there™s a 50 percent chance rates will rise in September for the
first time since 2006.
The New Zealand dollar was little changed at 78.60 U.S. cents, after weakening 0.3 percent yesterday.
Source : Bloomberg
