The dollar remained soft late in the session in Tokyo's foreign exchange market on the 2nd, trading in the upper ¥159 range. A pause in the rise in crude oil prices, movements in long-term U.S. interest rates and comments by BOJ Policy Board member Takata (高田) on accelerating the pace of rate hikes were seen as prompting selling in the market.
In Tokyo trading on the 2nd, the dollar fell into the upper ¥159 range late in the session, reaching around ¥159.69 as of 5 p.m. Although it briefly rose slightly above ¥160 during the day, selling subsequently prevailed and the dollar continued to test lower levels through the end of the session.
In overseas markets the previous day, the dollar initially fell to around ¥159.90 on weak U.S. data, but then edged higher on movements in oil futures and rising long-term U.S. interest rates, briefly recovering the ¥160 level.
While some market participants attributed the dollar selling to a pause in the rise in crude oil prices outside afternoon trading hours, others said that comments by BOJ Policy Board member Takata (高田) on accelerating the pace of rate hikes had revived expectations of consecutive rate increases.
The euro traded range-bound against both the yen and the dollar. As of 5 p.m., the euro-yen rate was reported at ¥184.89-90 and the euro-dollar rate at $1.1577-1.1578.