Market News
Yen rises as traders look to BOJ, while dollar holds steady - REUTERS
By Harry Robertson and Rae Wee
LONDON/SINGAPORE, July 23 (Reuters) - The yen rose on Tuesday as investors reacted to comments from a senior Japanese politician that added to the pressure on the Bank of Japan to keep hiking rates to boost the currency.
The dollar and euro held broadly steady as traders took a breather in a week with little economic data, while the Australian and New Zealand dollars suffered after China's surprise interest rate cut.
The dollar was last down 0.65% against the Japanese yen at 155.98, not far from Thursday's five-week low of 155.375.
Senior ruling party official Toshimitsu Motegi said overnight that the Bank of Japan should more clearly indicate its resolve to normalise monetary policy, including through steady interest rate hikes. The BOJ next sets rates on July 31.
"The yen derived support from further comments from Japanese politicians overnight," said Lee Hardman, currency analyst at Japanese bank MUFG, who added that his comments indicated "growing unease" among politicians about BOJ policy.
"It closely follows calls last week from Digital Transformation Minister Kono Taro who called on the BOJ to raise interest rates to provide more support for the yen."
The yen has found some support on the back of Tokyo's recent bouts of intervention to prop up the currency and as traders looked to the BOJ's decision. However, most economists polled by Reuters expect the BOJ to keep rates on hold at the meeting.
