September 23, 2022 01:25 AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
The yen headed for its first weekly gain in more than a month on Friday after Japanese authorities intervened in markets to support the yen for the first time since 1998, while a towering dollar held other currencies near multi-year lows.
The yen rose about 0.1% to 142.22 per dollar in Asia, after rising more than 1% in the previous session on news that Japan had bought yen to defend the battered currency, although trading was thin Friday as the country's markets were closed for a holiday.
The intervention, carried out late in Asian trading on Thursday, came after the Bank of Japan stuck to its ultra-low interest rate policy, causing the yen to fall above 145 per dollar to a 24-year low
The pound lost 0.27% to $1.12285, uncomfortably close to its 37-year low of $1.1213, reached in the previous session, and was barely supported by the Bank of England's overnight 50 basis point rate hike.
The euro, Australian and Kiwi also fell to new lows on Friday in the face of a rising dollar, boosted by a very tight Federal Reserve announcement and rising Treasury yields, which maintained demand for the dollar.
The 10-year Treasury yield hit an 11-year high of 3.718% overnight, while the two-year Treasury yield remained well above 4%.
The U.S. dollar index rose 0.16% to 111.40, hovering near the two-decade high of 111.81 reached in the previous session and on track for a weekly gain of 1.5%.
The euro fell 0.11% to $0.9823, nearing a 20-year low of $0.9807 hit overnight.