The yen strengthened for the first time in three days versus the dollar before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke holds a press conference in Washington. Japan’s currency advanced against all except two of its 16 major counterparts. The euro approached a four-month high versus the dollar before an industry report tomorrow that economists said will show a gauge of services and factory output in the region improved this month. New Zealand’s dollar strengthened after the nation’s current-account deficit narrowed. The yen gained 0.2 percent to 95.11 per dollar at 8:01 a.m. in London after weakening 1.1 percent in the previous two days. Japan’s currency rose 0.2 percent to 127.43 per euro. The euro advanced 0.1 percent to $1.34 after appreciating to $1.3416 yesterday, the highest since Feb. 20. Bernanke will hold a press conference today following the central bank’s meeting. He said on May 22 the Fed could reduce its monthly purchases of $45 billion of Treasuries and $40 billion of mortgage securities if the employment outlook shows sustainable improvement. The yen has strengthened 6.7 percent in the past month, the best performer among 10 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The euro rose 2.2 percent and the dollar fell 0.3 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Neal Armstrong in London at narmstrong8@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net

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