Dollar/yen firm on BOJ policy speculation, risk aversion limits upside

EghtesadOnline: The dollar stood atop sizeable gains versus the yen early on Wednesday lifted by a report that the Bank of Japan is mulling further monetary easing steps, although investor risk aversion limited its upside.

News ID: ۷۳۶۸۸۲

14 September 2016

According to Reuters, the Nikkei business daily reported that the BOJ plans to make its controversial negative interest rate policy the centrepiece of future monetary easing, promising to weigh further cuts as expansions to asset buying near their limits.

The dollar was steady at 102.540 yen JPY= after going as high as 102.745 late on Tuesday, when it ended on a 0.7 percent gain.

The greenback's advance has been slowed, however, as the safe-haven yen found demand in the wake of a sharp decline in equities, with the Dow .DJI sinking 1.4 percent on Tuesday amid a slide in crude oil prices. The Nikkei .N225 was last down 0.6 percent.

"Japanese monetary easing expectations are supporting dollar/yen and triggered its latest bounce. But it has been capped below 103 yen as expectations for a September U.S. rate hike are fading and as risk assets have turned bearish," said Shin Kadota, chief Japan FX strategist at Barclays in Tokyo.

The euro dipped 0.1 percent to 114.940 yen EURJPY= after gaining about 0.5 percent overnight.

The common currency was flat at $1.1218 EUR= after shedding 0.1 percent the previous day.

The dollar index was steady at 95.551 .DXY following an overnight gain of 0.25 percent, with a rise in U.S. long-term bond yields to a three-month high buoying the greenback.

U.S. long-term yields have risen in the past month along with a steepening in the Japanese government bond yield curve caused by speculation over BOJ policy maneuvers.

Commodity-linked currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars struggled after oil prices tumbled.

The Aussie, also sensitive to shifts in risk appetite, was flat at $0.7464 AUD=D4 after retreating overnight to a seven-week low of $0.7443.

The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.3162CAD=D4 to the dollar, close to a one-month low of C$1.3190 seen on Tuesday.

Oil prices fell as much as 3 percent on Tuesday after the global energy watchdog and OPEC revised forecasts, indicating the global crude glut could persist for much longer than expected.