Yen fell as traders await monetary policy decisions

On Monday, the dollar and the euro recorded a strong start to a week of central bank meetings, while the yen suffered amid investor expectations that the Bank of Japan would not raise interest rates, contrary to what policy makers in Europe and the United States plan.

The Federal Reserve concludes its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday and the European Central Bank ends its meeting the next day, followed by the Bank of Japan on Friday.

The yen fell to 141.5 against the dollar, and 157.28 against the euro, not far from its lowest level in 15 years against the euro of 158.04.

The euro settled at $1.1121 on Monday, while the dollar index held steady at 101.04.

Investors expect the European and US central banks to raise interest rates by 25 basis points this week, and the focus in both cases will be on indications that the two banks will announce about their September meetings and expectations that the European Central Bank will continue to tighten monetary policy, while signs of slowing inflation may provide an opportunity for the US central bank to hint at a temporary halt to raising interest rates.

The New Zealand dollar scored $0.6172, while the Australian dollar settled unchanged at $0.6731.