BLBG:Yen Rises as Kuroda Repeats Options; Euro Climbs Versus Dollar
The yen strengthened against all 16 of its major peers after Bank of Japan (8301) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated policy-easing options, damping expectations for novel measures to be unveiled as early as next week.
Kuroda spoke to upper house lawmakers today after telling Japan’s lower house earlier this week he aimed to achieve a 2 percent annual inflation goal in two years. The euro advanced against the dollar after German retail sales unexpectedly rose in February. Cypriot banks reopen today for the first time in almost two weeks with new rules curbing access to cash after a bailout agreement forced losses on some depositors.
“Kuroda’s been talking up more aggressive easing and stamping out deflation,” said Janu Chan, a Sydney-based economist at St. George Bank Ltd. “If the governor does what’s expected, we’ll probably see limited reaction. There’s probably more risk that the yen strengthens than weakens.”
The yen gained 0.3 percent to 94.22 per dollar as of 8:14 a.m. London time. It was little changed at 120.64 per euro. The 17-nation currency added 0.2 percent to $1.2804, after yesterday touching $1.2751, the lowest level since Nov. 21.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kevin Buckland in Tokyo at kbuckland1@bloomberg.net; Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net
