Yen slips near 4-month low

Japanese yen fell close to its lowest level in four months against the US dollar and its lowest level in 16 years against the euro on Wednesday, as traders bet that monetary policy in Japan will remain accommodative even with the central bank ending its negative interest rate policy.

According to Reuters, the yen fell on Wednesday to its lowest level in four months at 151.58 to the dollar, and fell 0.47% at 151.56 in its latest trading, approaching its lowest level in several decades at 151.94, and fears of interference by the Japanese authorities resurfaced.

The yen’s decline was widespread, as the currency fell to 164.66 against the euro, its lowest level since 2008, while it fell against the British pound to 192.75, its lowest level since 2015. Japan’s markets are closed today, Wednesday, due to a holiday.

In a historic shift from decades of massive monetary stimulus, the Bank of Japan on Tuesday ended eight years of negative interest rates and other vestiges of unconventional economic policy.

But the focus on Wednesday remains on the Federal Reserve (the US central bank), and although the central bank is not expected to act, its economic forecasts and the comments of its Chairman Jerome Powell will be the subject of widespread attention.

According to data from the CME Fed Watch tool, 59 percent of traders expect the US Central Bank to start a monetary policy easing cycle in June, and this percentage is sharply lower than previous expectations.

The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.039% to 103.90. The euro was last traded at $1.0866.

In terms of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin fell 3.4% to $61,569, after touching its lowest levels in two weeks at $60,780 earlier in the session.