Investing.com - The U.S. dollar climbed to a five-year high against the yen on Thursday, but was mixed against the other major currencies amid a lack of fresh cues as most global markets remained closed for the Christmas break.
USD/JPY rose to a session high of 104.84, the highest since October 5, 2008, during U.S. morning trade, before subsequently consolidating at 104.77, up 0.37%.
The yen weakened amid speculation the Bank of Japan will have to expand its stimulus program in the coming months in order to meet its target of 2% inflation by 2015.
Minutes of the BoJ’s November policy meeting showed that that not all board members were convinced that the country’s growth was on a long-term upward trend. Investors also reacted to comments made by BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who said that the nation’s economy hadn’t yet completely wiped out deflation.
Meanwhile, the greenback was modestly lower against the euro and the pound, with EUR/USD adding 0.1% to 1.3695 and GBP/USD up 0.19% to 1.6382.
Trading volumes were light as financial markets in London and across Europe remained closed for the Boxing Day holiday.
The dollar was steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF holding flat at 0.8957.
Elsewhere, the greenback was mixed against the commodity-linked currencies. AUD/USD shed 0.39% to 0.8889, NZD/USD dipped 0.23% to 0.8165, while USD/CAD inched down 0.04% to 1.0630.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was flat at 80.67.
Market players looked ahead to weekly U.S. data on initial jobless claims later in the day to gauge if the U.S. economy will be strong enough to allow the Federal Reserve to continue withdrawing support through 2014.
USD/JPY rose to a session high of 104.84, the highest since October 5, 2008, during U.S. morning trade, before subsequently consolidating at 104.77, up 0.37%.
The yen weakened amid speculation the Bank of Japan will have to expand its stimulus program in the coming months in order to meet its target of 2% inflation by 2015.
Minutes of the BoJ’s November policy meeting showed that that not all board members were convinced that the country’s growth was on a long-term upward trend. Investors also reacted to comments made by BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who said that the nation’s economy hadn’t yet completely wiped out deflation.
Meanwhile, the greenback was modestly lower against the euro and the pound, with EUR/USD adding 0.1% to 1.3695 and GBP/USD up 0.19% to 1.6382.
Trading volumes were light as financial markets in London and across Europe remained closed for the Boxing Day holiday.
The dollar was steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF holding flat at 0.8957.
Elsewhere, the greenback was mixed against the commodity-linked currencies. AUD/USD shed 0.39% to 0.8889, NZD/USD dipped 0.23% to 0.8165, while USD/CAD inched down 0.04% to 1.0630.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was flat at 80.67.
Market players looked ahead to weekly U.S. data on initial jobless claims later in the day to gauge if the U.S. economy will be strong enough to allow the Federal Reserve to continue withdrawing support through 2014.