Yen Drops to 158 Range Against Dollar in New York, Hitting Fresh 34-Year Low

By Takanori Yamamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

16:48 JST, April 27, 2024

NEW YORK — The yen’s exchange rate against the U.S. dollar temporarily dived to the ¥158.40 range in New York on Friday, the lowest since May 1990 and a fresh 34-year low.

Before the Bank of Japan released the outcomes of its monetary policy meeting on Friday afternoon Japan time, the yen-dollar exchange rate had been around ¥155.50 in foreign exchange markets. After the BOJ decided to maintain its current monetary policy, moves to sell yen and buy dollar were accelerated and the yen tumbled by nearly ¥3.

Market players widely shared the view that BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s press conference did not show a determined stance to prevent the yen from falling further.

In March, the BOJ decided to end its large-scale easy monetary policy measures, such as discontinuing negative interest rates. However, the yen’s trend downward has not stopped with its value against the dollar dropping by about ¥17 compared with the end of last year.