JPY is approaching the lowest level in 3 decades

The battered yen remained stuck near a three-decade low against the dollar on Tuesday and struggled to stem losses as the Bank of Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy continued to conflict with expectations of interest rates remaining high for longer periods elsewhere.

The Japanese currency recorded its lowest level in 15 years against the euro at 162.38 yen to the euro at the beginning of Asian trading, and it also fell to the lowest level in almost three months against the British pound at 186.25 yen to the pound.

Against the dollar, the yen recorded in the latest transactions 151.70 to the dollar, remaining near the lowest level in a year at 151.92, which it recorded on Monday. Any decline from the yen’s lowest level last year at 151.94 to the dollar would mark a new record low in 33 years.

In September last year, Japanese authorities intervened in the currency market to support the yen for the first time since 1998, after the Bank of Japan’s decision to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy led to the yen falling to 145 to the dollar.

It intervened again in October 2022 after the yen fell to a 32-year low of 151.94 to the dollar.

Outside Asia, traders are also awaiting US inflation data due later on Tuesday, which will provide more clarity on whether the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates further to tame inflation.

In recent days, Bank President Jerome Powell and his monetary policy-making team have contradicted market expectations that the US Federal Reserve has ended its harsh cycle of raising interest rates after keeping interest rates steady at the last monetary policy meeting.

These comments kept the dollar strong, and the New Zealand dollar fell to its lowest level against the US currency in more than a week at 0.5866 to the dollar.

The New Zealand dollar fell in recent trading by 0.17 percent to $0.5867.

The British pound also fell 0.03 percent to $1.2274, and the euro also fell 0.03 percent to trade at $1.0695.