Markets

Dollar briefly tops 149 yen for 1st time in 32 years in N.Y.

REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo
A Japan yen note is seen in this illustration photo taken June 1, 2017.

Jiji Press

10:15 JST, October 18, 2022

NEW YORK (Jiji Press) — The dollar briefly topped ¥149 for the first time in about 32 years since August 1990 in New York trading Monday, as yen selling for dollars continued to take the upper hand on the back of lingering expectations for a wider Japan-U.S. interest rate gap.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s remark Saturday that downplayed the impact of a strong dollar on the U.S. economy also encouraged traders to step up purchases of the U.S. currency against the yen, market sources said.

Despite caution over another yen-buying$,-selling intervention by Japanese financial authorities, the greenback rose gradually against the Japanese currency.

At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥148.97-149.07, up by ¥0.24 from 5 p.m. Friday.

The yen also weakened against the euro. The European currency stood at ¥146.61-71 at 5 p.m., up by ¥2.12.