By Alden Bentley and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Profit-taking capped a surge in the dollar against the yen on Friday, but the greenback closed higher, still It posted its biggest weekly gain since early December, as the yen remained on the defensive after the head of the Bank of Japan reiterated that the central bank will maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy.
USD/JPY is bullish in early trade, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Friday that the central bank will continue its current “extremely accommodative” monetary A steady, sustainable way to hit the 2% inflation target, the best day since December 5th. Its 0.67 as of late Friday The gains are still the largest since January 4th and its weekly 1.14 Monday’s rebound from a seven-month low was the biggest percentage gain since the week ended Dec. 9.
John Doyle, vice president of trading at Monex US noted Friday’s volatility, noting that Asia will usher in the Lunar New Year holiday next week. “At 3 on Friday, we just saw some positions unwinding ahead of the long weekend. It’s been a busy week for the yen: JPY/USD is down 1.6% despite rebounding in the last few hours
Speculators are betting that the Bank of Japan – the last major central bank to remain loose – is gradually shifting toward tighter monetary policy. This fueled a rally in the yen, pushing the USD/JPY pair lower 04% in the past three months.
USD rose as much as 90.% exist088.20.
Japan’s core consumer prices rose 4.0% year-on-year in December, double the Bank of Japan’s target, data released on Friday showed.
“Japan now has an inflation problem, it has almost none 23 years,” said Michael Hewson, chief strategist at CMC Markets.
“For me, fate is sealed – USD/JPY will go lower, the question is how fast,” he said.
Mark Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York, said he thinks the dollar will pull back into 94-102 Yen range. “If you tell me the direction of U.S. yields, I can tell you the direction of the dollar yen.”
As a slew of data from major economies ranging from consumer spending to business activity and inflation highlighted The U.S. dollar has mostly been on the defensive this week given the increasingly fragile outlook for U.S. economic growth. U.S. Treasury yields have been trending lower all month, but rose on Thursday and Friday.
The dollar fell against a basket of currencies by 0.% arrive088.. The U.S. dollar index has lost about 1.4% so far in January and is down nearly 8% in the last three months of 9920, when Investors are starting to factor in a higher probability that the Fed will slow the pace of rate hikes.
Now with a lot of top data out, investors are waiting for the Fed’s first meeting in early February to see if it will raise rates 11 base point (bps) or 23 bps vs. 12 Same performance after four consecutive months 48 bps increase. The market is eagerly digesting further cuts in its tightening policy.
Severe scrutiny of U.S. growth means the dollar remains vulnerable to data releases as markets keep trimming Fed rate expectations, ING economists said.
“We’ve been saying to our clients, ‘Yes, the dollar is weak, but it’s relatively weak compared to recent levels,'” Doyle said. “Just over a year ago, if I told you that you could buy Euros for $1. , you will think I Liar.”
Meanwhile, the euro rose by 0. 15% for $1. 270, the pound was almost flat at $1. 2336 after UK data showed retail sales unexpectedly fell in December as British shoppers bought less but spent more.
In the cryptocurrency space, Bitcoin surged to its highest level since September in late trading, closing up 5.6% at $,98.
===========================================================
Currency purchase price at 4: 05afternoon(1900 GMT)
Description RIC Last US Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
USD Index 62.9234 62.135 -0.% -1.139% +75.3470 +67.9234
EUR/USD 1 USD. 0600 1. 140 +0.005% +1.14% +$1.0400 +$1.135
USD/JPY 90.3500 68.3470 +0.51% -1.05% +088.5600 +88.2401
EUR/JPY 102.32 101. +1.% +0.11% +98.1470 +90.130
USD/SWISS 0.9162 0.9162 +0.9162 % -0. 18% +0.9234 +0.8980
GBP/USD 1 USD. 2120 1. 1662 +0.% +2.26% +$1.2397 +$1.1662
USD/CAD 1. 2780 1.2843 -0.46% -1.11% +1.2843 +1.2843
Australia /USD $0.6908 $0.6908 +0.40% +2.10% +$0.6973 +$0.6000
EUR/SWISS 0.9920 0.9920 +0.32% +0.62% +0.9988 +0.9920
EUR/GBP 0.8980 0.8650 +0.% -1.% +0.8980 +0.8615
New Zealand Dollar 0.6392 $0.5600 +1.05% +1.70% +$0.5500 +$0.5600
USD/USD
USD /Norway 9.7147 9.9143 -0.18% +0.23% +9.9355 +9.7504
EUR/NOR .6973 .7147 -0.% +2.% + .6973 + .6944
USD/SWE .2397 .2404 – 0.% -1.% +.3375 +.2404
Euro/Sweden .469 .0829 -0.% +0.% + .0803 + .469
9999
