Dollar Maintains Its Gains Against Yen on Interest Policy Forecasts

The US dollar strengthened against the yen as it boosted the gains it made over the past three days on bets that the Federal Reserve will raise its interest rates, increasing traders’ appetite for the currency.

The Bank of Japan is expected to keep its stimulus program unchanged during the meeting of Japanese policymakers next week, which would offer more support for the greenback. On the other hand, markets believe there’s a 71.4 percent chance that the Federal Reserve will increase its interest rates at its meeting in December according to the CME Group FedWatch tool after a number of hawkish comments from Fed policymakers improved the outlook for a hike. The Federal Open Market Committee’s next meeting takes place on November 1–2.

USD/JPY appreciated to 104.95 as of 14:09 GMT — its highest level in 3 months — following a hike by 0.7 percent during the last three days. The US currency reached its previous weekly high at 104.87 during Tuesday’s trading session.

The Dollar Index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of major currencies, rose to 98.69 at 14:03 GMT today to recover from Wednesday’s low of 98.38 as it was helped by an increase in yields of the US Treasury notes.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the US Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.