Yen Erases Gains against Dollar as BOJ’s Ueda Sounds Dovish

Tokyo, April 28 (Jiji Press)–The yen briefly strengthened past 159 per dollar following the Bank of Japan’s decision to maintain its monetary policy on Tuesday, but it gave up the gains later in the day as BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda sounded dovish at a press conference. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at 159.51-54 yen, up from 159.23-23 yen at the same time Monday. The dollar fell to near 158.90 yen after the BOJ said shortly past noon that three of its nine Policy Board members proposed a policy rate hike and opposed the decision at a two-day policy-setting meeting that ended Tuesday. However, the greenback rebounded above 159.40 yen as Ueda’s press conference began in the afternoon. The BOJ chief acknowledged the increasing risk of inflation rising higher than expected, but indicated that the BOJ sees no urgent need to raise interest rates at the moment. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average slid 619.90 points, or 1.02 pct, to 59,917.46 after hitting a record closing high above 60,000 the previous day. On Tuesday, the BOJ also released a quarterly Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices report, in which the bank boosted its growth forecast for Japan’s core consumer price index in fiscal 2026, which started this month, to 2.8 pct from 1.9 pct. The voting results at the latest BOJ meeting and the new inflation forecast showed a “more hawkish” stance than expected, but Ueda was viewed as “somewhat dovish” at the press conference, said an official of a Japanese securities firm. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]