The yen weakened against the U.S. dollar in Tuesday’s Asian trading as investors weighed a week of central bank decisions after U.S. stocks gained, while Japanese service-price inflation picked up.
In reporting at 10:38 p.m. ET Monday (02:38 UTC Tuesday), Reuters put the dollar at ¥157.73, leaving the yen down 0.16%. The dollar index was 102.04, near a one-week high. Reuters linked the yen’s decline to increased appetite for risk after U.S. equities advanced.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7% Monday and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8%, the Associated Press reported. Nvidia climbed 2.4%, while AP described trading in other AI-related stocks as uneven.
The Bank of Japan said its Services Producer Price Index rose 3.7% year over year in September, compared with a revised 3.5% in August. Excluding international transportation, the index increased 2.9%.
On Sept. 18, the BOJ Policy Board voted 7-2 to set a guideline for the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain around 1.25%, effective Sept. 24. The bank said future adjustments would take account of economic activity, prices and financial conditions, with decisions informed by its outlook and risks. Its September statement said underlying consumer-price inflation was nearing the BOJ’s 2% target and wage increases were feeding into selling prices.
Reuters reported that markets expected the BOJ to keep the overnight call rate around 1.25% at its Oct. 29-30 meeting. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet Oct. 27-28; the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Bank of Canada have decisions scheduled for Oct. 28, and the European Central Bank meets Oct. 28-29.
The BOJ’s next policy meeting is scheduled for Oct. 29-30.
