Dollar scales fresh two-decade peak to yen, Bank of Japan targets yields

The dollar climbed to a fresh two-decade peak to the yen on Wednesday, buoyed by more Federal Reserve officials pushing for sizeable interest rate hikes, while the Bank of Japan stepped into the market again to defend its ultra-low rate policy

The greenback reached 129.43 yen for the first time since April 2002. It last traded at 127.83

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, among the more dovish Federal Open Market Committee members, said on Tuesday that if global supply chain disruptions persist, policymakers will need to take even more aggressive action to bring down inflation

Earlier, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, who is not a voter on this year’s FOMC, said he is “comfortable” with a round of rate hikes this year that includes two 50 basis-point increases, marking an about face from just a month ago

U.S. Treasury yields pushed higher, and continued their climb in Tokyo trading, with 10-year yields touching 2.981% for the first time since December 2018

In contrast to the Fed, the BOJ again offered to buy unlimited amounts of Japanese government bonds on Wednesday to rein in the rise in Japanese 10-year yields, which were butting against its 0.25% tolerance ceiling.

The policy divergence has led many analysts to say the yen’s rapid descent is not unjustified, even as it raises risks for currency intervention

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki made the most explicit warning yet on Tuesday, saying the damage to the economy from a weakening currency at present is greater than the benefits from it

“Amid the ongoing rise in U.S. Treasury yields, actions clearly speak louder than words,” with Suzuki’s comments “thus continuing to go unheeded,” Ray Attrill, head of foreign-exchange strategy at National Australia Bank, wrote in a client note

“Incoming Fed speak has done nothing to detract from the ongoing bond sell-off

The dollar index, which measures the currency against six major peers including the yen, dipped 0.5% to 100.47. On Tuesday, it reached 101.03, a level not seen since March 2020

The euro traded at $1.0829. Last week, it hit a low of $1.0758, the weakest in about two years

Elsewhere, China surprisingly kept its benchmark lending rates for corporates and households steady on Wednesday, going against the global trend of monetary tightening as major economies battle inflation