USD/JPY Back Below 118.50 Before BOJ Sets Monetary Policy

The yen gained against the dollar, snapping a three-day drop, before Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his colleagues decide whether to expand monetary easing at a policy meeting ending today.  A gauge of the dollar traded near a 10-year high after the International Monetary Fund upgraded its forecast for the U.S. even as it made the steepest cut to its global-growth outlook in three years. The euro was at almost the lowest level in 11 years before the European Central Bank decides tomorrow whether to buy sovereign bonds under quantitative easing.

“I don’t expect anything from the BOJ, but with Kuroda having surprised markets in October and positions built up yesterday, markets could get volatile after the decision regardless of its content,” said Kumiko Ishikawa, analyst at Gaitame.com Research Institute. “If there is nothing from the BOJ, dollar-yen could fall” below 118, she said.

The yen gained 0.5 percent to 118.29 per dollar at 11:41 a.m. in Tokyo from yesterday. It rose 0.3 percent to 136.81 yen. The euro traded at $1.1567 from $1.1550, after sliding to $1.1460 on Jan. 16, the weakest level since November 2003.

Bloomberg

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