Dollar hits nine-day high against yen

LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters): The dollar hit a nine-day high against the yen on Thursday, after comments by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reinforced expectations that the BOJ was in no hurry to move away from its ultra-loose monetary policy.

Some investors had expected hints that policy might be coming to an end and that the BOJ's yield target for Japanese government bonds might be raised, after a recent speech by Kuroda that referred to the negative effects of ultra-expansionary monetary policy.

But speaking after the BOJ kept interest rates steady as widely expected, Kuroda said his earlier reference to a "reversal rate" did not indicate a change in his thinking on monetary policy.

Kuroda also said the BOJ would continue patiently with monetary easing as inflation was still well off its 2 per cent target and that he did not see a need to review the BOJ's yield curve control policy.

The dollar rose 0.2 per cent to 113.635 yen in an otherwise Christmas-thinned market, having traded around 113.40 yen ahead of Kuroda's news conference. "I think Kuroda was misunderstood by all those who had taken (his earlier comments) as a hint for an imminent change in policy," said Commerzbank currency strategist Ulrich Leuchtmann, in Frankfurt.

"The Bank of Japan has long promised ... that it will continue its QE policy until inflation exceeds the 2 per cent target," he added. "It would be quite unusual - to put it mildly - to execute a U-turn in monetary policy at a time like this."