Investing.com - The dollar was steady against the yen in thin holiday trade on Monday, with many Asian exchanges closed for the Lunar New Year, as last week’s comments by Japan’s finance minister continued to support the yen.
USD/JPY hit 92.36 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 92.69, dipping 0.02%.
The pair was likely to find near-term support at 91.59, the low of February 1 and resistance at 93.73, Friday’s high and an almost two-and-a-half year high.
The yen strengthened broadly on Friday after Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso said the dollar‘s recent rise above the JPY90 level was “abrupt.”
The comments raised doubts over whether the government is comfortable with the recent steep decline in the yen, but the currency looked likely to remain under pressure as expectations for more aggressive monetary easing measures by the Bank of Japan remained intact.
Investors were looking ahead to the outcome of Thursday’s BoJ policy meeting, as well as the G20 meeting starting Friday, which was expected to include discussions over competitive currency devaluation.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has rejected criticism that Japan’s fiscal and monetary stimulus program was aimed at weakening the yen, saying the measures are aimed at combating deflation.
Elsewhere, the yen was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/JPY inching up 0.02% to 123.92.
The eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers were to hold talks in Brussels later in the session, following last week’s European Union summit.
EU leaders reached an agreement on a seven year budget on Friday. European governments will contribute slightly less to this budget than they did for the previous seven year budget, following calls to curb spending by Brussels.
USD/JPY hit 92.36 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 92.69, dipping 0.02%.
The pair was likely to find near-term support at 91.59, the low of February 1 and resistance at 93.73, Friday’s high and an almost two-and-a-half year high.
The yen strengthened broadly on Friday after Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso said the dollar‘s recent rise above the JPY90 level was “abrupt.”
The comments raised doubts over whether the government is comfortable with the recent steep decline in the yen, but the currency looked likely to remain under pressure as expectations for more aggressive monetary easing measures by the Bank of Japan remained intact.
Investors were looking ahead to the outcome of Thursday’s BoJ policy meeting, as well as the G20 meeting starting Friday, which was expected to include discussions over competitive currency devaluation.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has rejected criticism that Japan’s fiscal and monetary stimulus program was aimed at weakening the yen, saying the measures are aimed at combating deflation.
Elsewhere, the yen was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/JPY inching up 0.02% to 123.92.
The eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers were to hold talks in Brussels later in the session, following last week’s European Union summit.
EU leaders reached an agreement on a seven year budget on Friday. European governments will contribute slightly less to this budget than they did for the previous seven year budget, following calls to curb spending by Brussels.