Title: Dollar edges up but cautious as finance ministers meet

Apr 21, 2022 01:15AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

The dollar edged higher on Thursday, supported by expectations of aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve, but fell well short of the previous day's peaks as G7 nations were nervous about what they would say about its rapid appreciation.

The dollar gained 0.34% to 128.305 yen after hitting a two-decade high of 129.430 yen on Wednesday as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) took action in the bond market for the third time in three months to defend its zero percent yield target, in stark contrast to the Fed's increasingly hawkish stance.

Shunichi Suzuki said Thursday in Washington, D.C., that he had explained the yen's "somewhat rapid" decline to his Group of Seven counterparts, but did not comment on their reaction.

He has warned in recent days about the potential damage a weaker currency could have on the Japanese economy.

Suzuki will meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen this week, prompting traders to reduce their bets on a possible intensification of rhetoric on a falling yen.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against six others, including the yen, rose 0.16% to 100.50 after retreating from a more than two-year high of 101.03 in the previous session.

As buyers sought out dips, benchmark government bond yields fell to nearly 3%, the lowest since December 2018, providing relief to the dollar overnight. However, those yields also rose slightly in Tokyo trading on Thursday.

Markets currently expect them to rise by half a percentage point in both May and June.

Elsewhere, the euro slipped 0.19% to $1.0832, while the pound slipped 0.13% to $1.3052.

The Australian dollar was down 0.25 percent at $0.74325.

The New Zealand dollar fell 0.30% to $0.67845 on weaker-than-expected consumer price data.