Yen Edges Up Ahead of BOJ Meeting; Yuan Down on PBOC’s Comments

Thursday,   25-Apr-2019   10:54 AM (IST)

The Japanese yen edged up on Thursday in Asia ahead of the release of the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision, the monetary policy statement and the outlook report. The central bank is expected to keep monetary policy steady, but could downgrade its assessment of the economy, according to analysts. The USD/JPY pair last traded at 111.98 by 11:30 PM ET (03:30 GMT), down 0.2%. Meanwhile, the USD/CNY pair was up 0.1% to 6.7259. The People’s Bank of China is not planning to tighten or relax monetary policy, Liu Guoqiang, vice governor of the central bank, said on Thursday at a briefing in Beijing, adding that the current policies are “appropriate.” The USD/KRW pair was up 0.3% to 1,157.81 following the release of data that showed South Korea’s GDP shrank the most in a decade in the first quarter of 2019. A South Korean Deputy Finance Minister reportedly said on Thursday that the government would intervene if there are any abnormal moves, including intensified volatility, in the foreign exchange markets. Meanwhile, the euro was flat against the USD. Overnight, data showed German business sentiment unexpectedly fell in April. The GBP/USD pair was also largely unchanged after Conservative lawmakers decided Wednesday against tweaking leadership rules that would have allowed a fresh attempt to oust U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May. The USD/CAD pair rose 0.04% to 1.3492 after the Bank of Canada kept rates at 1.75%, citing a decline in global growth activity due to trade concerns.