BEIJING: The yen became stronger versus dollar, snapping a three-day fall, after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) abstained from adding a stimulus plan that had sent the currency reducing when it was extended in October.
Australia’s dollar climbed and New Zealand’s currency rallied after stocks in Asia advanced, reviving demand for higher-yielding assets. The euro rose before the European Central Bank decides whether to buy sovereign bonds under quantitative easing. Malaysia’s ringgit slid for a third day after Fitch Ratings warned it may cut the nation’s rating.
“Given we’ve got the ECB tomorrow and expectations are pretty high there, and given the SNB, there has been at least some residual expectation that we would see some action” from the Bank of Japan, said Mitul Kotecha, head of Asia-Pacific currency strategy at Barclays Plc in Singapore, referring to the Swiss central bank scrapping its currency cap. “There’s some dawning realization now that the Bank of Japan weren’t going to follow suit,” leading the yen to strengthen, he said.
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The yen gained 1 percent to 117.66 per dollar at 6:53 a.m. in London from yesterday. It rose 0.7 percent to 136.31 yen per euro. The euro gained 0.3 percent to $1.1580.
Australia’s dollar climbed 0.7 percent to 82.26 U.S. cents. New Zealand’s kiwi gained 0.4 percent to 76.67 U.S. cents, rebounding from a 1.9 percent loss yesterday.
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