Forex - Yen crumples in Singapore afternoon trade as Bank of Japan holds rates |
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Published
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Thu, 18 Jan 2007 09:48
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SINGAPORE (XFN-ASIA) - The yen weakened in afternoon trading here after the Bank of Japan decided to keep interest rates on hold and said it saw a slightly shallower slant to economic growth, dealers said.At 3.58 pm (0758 GMT) here, the dollar was at 121.24 yen, up from 120.61 yen in Sydney nearly 4-1/2 hours earlier. The euro was at 1.2963 usd, down from 1.2973 usd in Sydney.The Bank of Japan's policy board ended its two-day meeting around noon here (0400 GMT), and it announced that it had voted 6-3 to leave the target for the overnight call rate unchanged at 0.25 pct because consumption and prices remained soft in an otherwise firm Japanese economic expansion.UBS said in a forex market note: 'Given the split vote and the fact that markets had priced an 80 pct chance of a hike as recently as the beginning of this week, it's not clear whether the decision to stand pat today was driven by caution over private consumption and a desire to wait for more data or pressure from the government.'Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui's subsequent remarks to a news conference, in which he repeated what he has said many times before -- that increases in interest rates would be made gradually -- weakened the yen even further.The euro was also buoyant against the yen. It was at 157.16 at 3.58 pm here, up from 156.43 in Sydney.Singapore 3.58 pm (0758 GMT) Sydney 2.33 pm (0333 GMT)US dollaryen 121.24 up from 120.61sfr 1.2460 up from 1.2439Eurousd 1.2963 down from 1.2973yen 157.16 up from 156.43sfr 1.6151 up from 1.6134stg 0.6562 down from 0.6573Sterlingusd 1.9747 up from 1.9736yen 239.40 up from 237.99sfr 2.4603 up from 2.4543Australian dollarusd 0.7880 down from 0.7887stg 0.3990 down from 0.3997yen 95.540 up from 95.115singapore@xfn.com
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Forex - US dollar slips in Singapore afternoon trade on Japan's likely rate hike 