Forex - Yen weakens further after Bank of Japan holds policy steady

Investing.com - The yen weakened further after the Bank of Japan on Friday voted to hold monetary policy stable in an 8 to 1 board vote, maintaining a pace to buy ¥80 trillion of government bonds annually.

BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is due to hold a press conference at 1530 Tokyo time (0630 GMT).

USD/JPY traded at 119.34, up 0.42%, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.8171, up 0.09%.

Overnight, the dollar traded higher against most major currencies on Thursday after falling jobless assistance claims and a rather upbeat take on the economy from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cemented expectations for rate hikes in 2015.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Dec. 12 fell by 6,000 to 289,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 295,000. Economist had forecast an increase of 1,000, and the better-than-expected result firmed the dollar as did residual applause of the Federal Reserve's policy statement.

At the conclusion of its monthly policy meeting on Wednesday, the Fed said it would be "patient" before raising rates, guidance which it said is consistent with earlier assurances statement that rates would stay low "for a considerable time."

The U.S. central bank noted improvements taking place in the U.S. labor market and stressed that the economy is making progress toward its goals in inflation and employment, which gave the dollar support on the notion that while language is still accommodative, it's growing less dovish.

At the bank’s post policy meeting press conference Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed was unlikely to raise rates for the "next couple of meetings" indicating that a move in April at the earliest is possible.

Elsewhere, manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region slowed in December after expanding at the fastest rate since December 1993 last month, according to data released on Thursday.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its manufacturing index came in 24.5 at this month, down from 40.8 in November.

Economists had forecast a decline to 26.6.

On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.

The current new orders index, which reflects the demand for manufactured goods, fell to 15.7 from 35.7, while the employment index dropped to 7.2 from a three-and-a-half year high of 22.4 last month.

The US dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.11% at 89.55.