Meanwhile, the Australian dollar hit a one-week high after the Reserve Bank of Australia surprisingly hiked interest rates to 3.85% and said further tightening may be needed to secure inflation to return to its target level within a reasonable period of time.
Australia’s currency rose 1% to just under 67 cents US for the first time since April 25, after trading near 66 cents for most of the past week.
The euro rose 0.24% against the Japanese currency to 151.31 yen, its highest level since September 2008, and the dollar rose 0.21% to register 137.74 yen for the first time. since March 8, to stay close to the 137.90 level. , which, if exceeded, would have reached the highest level.During this year, the pound rose against the yen by around 0.7% to 172.09, the highest level since October last year.
After the Central Bank of Japan’s decision, market expectations indicate that the Japanese yen will continue to fall against the dollar and European currencies until speculation returns on a change in central bank monetary policy during the one of the next meetings in June or July.
The euro was up 0.1% against the dollar at $1.0985, but is still close to its lows from last week.
As for the Japanese economy, the Cabinet Office is expected to announce preliminary gross domestic product data for the first quarter of 2023 on May 17.
Forecasts indicate that Japan’s gross domestic product will grow by 0.2% on a quarterly basis in real price-adjusted terms, in the January-March period, or by 0.8% on an annual basis, for the second consecutive quarter.
Markets also expect private consumption to continue to recover from the slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
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