Yen rose in European trade against a basket of major rivals, extending gains for the fifth straight session against dollar and hitting two-week high following Bank of Japan‘s meeting.
The BOJ held on to its current ultra easy monetary policies as expected, but added that control over government bond yields in the long term will be more flexible.
USD/JPY fell 1% to 138.06, the lowest since July 18, with a session-high at 141.07.
Yen closed Thursday up 0.6% against dollar, the fourth profit in a row amid speculation about the BOJ meeting.
At the third meeting helmed by new BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda, the bank maintained current policies unchanged as expected with interest rates still at negative 0.1%.
The bank also maintained current 10-year government yield targets at zero, and the upper range at 0.5%.
However, the bank said that control over the yield curve will be more flexible up and down, and the range will serve as a general guiding point.
BOJ said it’s appropriate to leave interest rates unchanged to support economic growth while continuing to purchase government bonds on a wide range.
The new modification to the yields control regime is an important step to steel the economy against risks, and could lead to normalized policies.
