NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters): The dollar hit a seven-year high against the yen on Wednesday ahead of Federal Reserve meeting minutes that could shed more light on the divergence in monetary policy between the US central bank and its major global peers.
The yen also weakened to a six-year trough against the euro, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe postponed a sales tax hike in a move seen as supportive for stock markets but negative for the currency.
The dollar rose as high as 117.67 yen, its highest level since October 2007, and was last trading at 117.62 yen. The Japanese currency was seen leading the move.
"It's definitely yen led, all the major surprises have been coming out of Japan beginning with the BOJ monetary policy move and subsequently the delay of the sales tax and the election announcement (by Abe)," said Steven Englander, global head of G10 foreign exchange strategy at CitiFX in New York.
The Bank of Japan kept policy unchanged on Wednesday, as expected.
Focus now turns to the Federal Reserve, which will release minutes of its October meeting.
Petr Krpata, currency strategist at ING, said the minutes are likely to reiterate a hawkish tone as reflected in the Fed's statement after its October meeting. The statement after that meeting noted that the labor market was improving and inflation was not likely to stay subdued for long.
Dollar at 7-year high against yen before Fed minutes
FE Team | Published: November 21, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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