By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The Japanese yen headed lower against the U.S. dollar and euro Wednesday, accelerating losses after minutes from the Bank of Japan’s November meeting showed some determination to drive the nation’s currency lower.
The drop for the Japanese unit came amid quiet trade for other major currency pairs, as many markets were closed for holidays.
The dollar USDJPY +0.75% rose to ÂĄ85.22 from its ÂĄ84.88 level 24 hours earlier, passing the ÂĄ85 mark for the first time since April 2011.
The euro EURJPY +0.83% also gained against the yen, hitting ÂĄ112.32 from ÂĄ111.89, and crossing the ÂĄ112 handle for the first time since August 2011.
The Japanese central-bank minutes from the Nov. 19-20 meeting showed some monetary-policy committee members saying measures should be adjusted to better drive the forex market.
“Some members raised the point that it might be necessary for the bank to improve its policy measures further to enhance the influence of monetary policy on foreign-exchange rates,” the minutes said. Read full Bank of Japan meeting minutes in English
Some members also said Japan’s economic recovery appeared likely for sometime next year, while one member called for keeping policy and easing moves loose until the deflation-plagued country can achieve consumer inflation of 1%.
The Bank of Japan minutes don’t identify the members by name when mentioning their comments in the meeting. Read: Bank of Japan minutes show dovish tilt in November
Dollar eases, others flat
With many traders around the world off work for Christmas, foreign-exchange action was relatively subdued for many of the other top-traded currencies.
The ICE dollar index DXY +0.02% , which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of six other major currencies, slipped to 79.671 from 79.680 a day earlier.
The euro EURUSD +0.10% sat at $1.3184, little changed from the previous day, while the British pound GBPUSD -0.02% bought $1.6132, also almost flat.
Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles.
