Yen weakness rekindled after the BOJ governor's press conference, with USD/JPY temporarily rising into the 158 range. Remarks at the press conference suggested a shift in the policy phase, sending yen crosses including EUR/JPY and GBP/JPY lower against the yen.
Yen weakness regained momentum in the London market, with USD/JPY temporarily moving above 158. As expected in the Tokyo market, the BOJ implemented a 0.25 percentage-point rate hike, but the governor's remarks after the meeting accelerated yen weakness again.
BOJ Governor Ueda's relatively hawkish stance at his press conference, where he suggested that the policy phase had changed, heightened expectations of further rate hikes. USD/JPY moved up from the upper 157 range into the 158 range.
EUR/JPY was bought up to the mid-181 range and GBP/JPY to the low-211 range, with yen crosses generally moving in the direction of yen weakness. The dollar itself was not the main driver, as the yen took the lead in the market.
EUR/USD remained in the upper 1.14 range, while GBP/USD stayed between the mid-1.33 range and the upper 1.33 range. Moves in other currencies against the dollar were limited.