The yen weakened and Tokyo stocks rose Tuesday after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates for the first time in 17 years owing to elevated inflation.The Japanese currency fell more than one percent against the dollar to 150.69 yen at 0955 GMT after the central bank also poured cold water on expectations of more hikes, sending the Tokyo stock market racing higher.
The Bank of Japan delivers its potentially historic policy decision on Tuesday against a backdrop of positive investor sentiment after a wave of bullish tech sentiment offset higher U.S. bond yields, and lifted stocks around the world on Monday. With Japan's Nikkei already kicking off the week with a 2.7% gain of its own and China delivering a broadly positive batch of economic data on Monday, markets around the world are on a solid footing ahead of the BOJ bonanza. Apart from the decision and Governor Kazuo Ueda's press conference on Tuesday, the Asia and Pacific calendar also includes the Reserve Bank of Australia's latest policy decision, so the Aussie dollar could be one of the most heavily traded currencies along with the yen.
The Indian rupee ended marginally higher on Thursday tracking rangebound price action across most of its Asian peers, while dollar-rupee forward premiums maintained their downtrend on an uptick in U.S. bond yields. The dollar-rupee may soon see "a bearish leg" as the pair may encounter resistance near the 82.90-83.00 zone and consequently trend lower, Amit Pabari, managing director at FX advisory firm CR Forex said. Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums slipped for the third consecutive day, with the 1-year implied yield down 1 basis points (bps) at 1.64%.