Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rallied over 1% to three-week highs against the yen on Friday, as reports of possibly extended stimulus measures by the Bank of Japan sent the local currency broadly lower.
USD/JPY hit 111.41 during U.S. morning trade, the pair’s highest since April 4; the pair subsequently consolidated at 111.31, up 1.69%.
The pair was likely to find support at 109.27, the session low and resistance at 111.80, the high of April 4.
The yen came under broad selling pressure after Bloomberg reported that the Bank of Japan was considering helping banks by applying negative rates to its lending program for financial institutions.
BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda had reiterated on Wednesday that the bank is prepared to ease monetary policy further in order to reach its inflation target.
The central bank’s next policy statement is scheduled on April 28.
Separately, market sentiment remained supported as oil prices continued to climb on Friday and were hovering close to the previous session’s five-month highs.
The yen was also sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/JPY rallying 1.29% to 125.14, the highest since April 7.
In the euro zone, research group Markit reported earlier that its Flash Composite Output Index, which measures the combined output of both the manufacturing and service sectors slipped from 53.1 in March to 53.0 in April, below forecasts for 53.2.