MW: Dollar sees biggest gains vs. yen since Oct. 2011
The U.S. dollar is seeing its biggest percentage gains against the Japanese yen since Oct. 31, 2011 in the wake of the Bank of Japan’s decision to sharply boost purchases of government bonds.
The dollar recently bought 95.53498 yen USDJPY +3.01% up from 92.86 yen Wednesday, according to data compiled from FactSet. The 2.88% gain was the largest for the dollar vs. the yen since the Japanese government moved to weaken the yen in Oct. 2011 after it reached a post-war high of 75.32.
The Bank of Japan’s latest effort, mimicking the Fed’s quantitative easing program, is aimed at boosting exports by making Japanese goods cheaper for foreign buyers. The Japanese economy has been stuck in a deflationary spiral for more than a decade.