Yen declines after BoJ holds rates steady
Friday, 12 October 2007
TOKYO, Oct 11 (AFP): The yen lost ground against other major currencies in Asian trade today after the Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged, encouraging players to buy higher yielding currencies, dealers said.
They said the euro rose following recent comments from European policy makers playing down concerns about the impact of a strong euro.
The dollar rose to 117.31 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, up from 117.22 in New York late Wednesday.
The euro gained to 1.4185 dollars from 1.4145 and to 166.38 yen from 165.80.
The Japanese central bank kept its benchmark rate at 0.5 per cent, the lowest among developed nations, encouraging investors to borrow yen and invest the funds in other high- yielding currencies elsewhere.
The BoJ said the vote by its nine-member policy board was 8- 1, with Atsushi Mizuno voting against governor Toshihiko Fukui's proposal to leave the rate unchanged.
Statements made recently by European policy makers including German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck supporting a strong euro boosted the single currency, dealers said.
They said the euro rose following recent comments from European policy makers playing down concerns about the impact of a strong euro.
The dollar rose to 117.31 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, up from 117.22 in New York late Wednesday.
The euro gained to 1.4185 dollars from 1.4145 and to 166.38 yen from 165.80.
The Japanese central bank kept its benchmark rate at 0.5 per cent, the lowest among developed nations, encouraging investors to borrow yen and invest the funds in other high- yielding currencies elsewhere.
The BoJ said the vote by its nine-member policy board was 8- 1, with Atsushi Mizuno voting against governor Toshihiko Fukui's proposal to leave the rate unchanged.
Statements made recently by European policy makers including German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck supporting a strong euro boosted the single currency, dealers said.