By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar pushed to a fresh eight-week top above 159 yen and clung close to a five-week peak to sterling on Friday, with the Federal Reserve’s patient approach to cutting interest rates contrasting with more dovish stances elsewhere.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against six major peers including the yen, sterling, euro and Swiss franc, spiked 0.41% overnight, turning positive for the week following a second successive rate cut at the Swiss National Bank and hints from the Bank of England for a reduction in August.
Meanwhile, the yen has continued to be on the back foot after the Bank of Japan’s decision last week to hold off on reducing bond buying stimulus until its July meeting.
As a result, “traders punished the yen with renewed enthusiasm,” driving it past the closely watched 159 per dollar level on Friday, said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG.
“The BOJ’s timeline is sharply out of sync with the markets, and this misalignment will likely force the BOJ to act to support the yen (via currency intervention) sooner than it might have needed to,” Sycamore said.
The BOJ, at the behest of Japan’s finance ministry, spent some 9.8 trillion yen ($61.64 billion) to yank the currency back from a 34-year trough of 160.245 per dollar, reached on April 29.
Because of that, the U.S. Treasury on Thursday added Japan to a list of countries it is monitoring for potential labelling as a currency manipulator. China is among others on the list.
Even so, Japan’s top currency diplomat Masato Kanda stressed on Friday that Tokyo stands ready to take further “resolute” action against “speculative, excessive volatility”.
The dollar last traded 0.05% stronger at 159.015 yen.
The U.S. currency added 0.07% to 0.89165 Swiss franc, following a 0.78% surge overnight.
The dollar index was little changed at 105.66, on course for a slight weekly gain that would extend its winning streak to three weeks.
Sterling was flat at $1.2657, sticking close to the $1.2655 low from Thursday, a level last seen on May 17. The BoE kept rates on hold, but some policy makers said the decision not to cut was “finely balanced”.
The euro edged 0.06% higher to $1.0708, trying to recover from Thursday’s 0.39% slide. The European Central Bank kicked off its rate cutting cycle earlier this month.
Fed officials, meanwhile, left policy unchanged at their June meeting, and shaved previous projections for three quarter-point cuts this year to one, even as inflation has cooled and the labour market has eased.
($1 = 158.9900 yen)
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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