Following the Bank of Japan's decision to raise rates, the yen briefly fell to around ¥157 per dollar. A review of the outlook and market reaction.
In the Tokyo foreign exchange market, the yen weakened against the dollar, briefly reaching around ¥157 per dollar. This was the yen's weakest level against the dollar in about two weeks, and the yen came under somewhat heavier selling pressure in afternoon trading.
The Bank of Japan decided at its Monetary Policy Meeting to raise the policy rate from around 1.0% to around 1.25%. However, 2 of the 9 Policy Board members opposed the rate hike, casting some doubt on expectations of an early further rate increase.
Many market participants said attention would focus on Governor Ueda Kazuo (植田和男)'s press conference following the Bank of Japan's decision, and the foreign exchange market was volatile at times.
The Nikkei Stock Average was at one point more than ¥1,300 above the previous day's close, but the impact of the weaker yen and stronger dollar spread across the broader market.