The Japanese yen fell today after the Bank of Japan released the minutes of its August policy meeting and as tensions about the situation in Syria eased, reducing demand for safe assets.
The Bank of Japan released the minutes of the meeting that was held on August 7–8. The minutes said:
Some members pointed out that there was a wider range of positive movements that made use of accommodative financial conditions, as evidenced, for example, by the recent developments in equity financing, which was at a much higher level than in normal years.
Such comments suggest that the bank will keep monetary policy extremely accommodative for a long time and this is not good for the currency.
Fears about possible war in Syria were alleviated after Russia stepped in with a proposal to oversee the Syrian chemical weapons and prevent their usage. With demand for safety gone, the yen lost its bullish story and fell today.
USD/JPY rose from 99.55 to 100.31 as of 13:20 GMT today, trading near the highest level since July 25. EUR/JPY advanced from 131.98 to 133.01 — the highest since May 22. GBP/JPY surged from 156.27 to 157.49, the strongest prices since August 2009.
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