By: Barbara Zigah
The Japanese Yen slipped in Asian Forex trading today following the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) easing policy modification, which was seen by some FX traders and analysts as too modest to be effective. While the BOJ board voted in a split decision to double the amount available under the current bank loan scheme, they declined to extend the terms of the loan to six months from the current three.
As reported at 4:26 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen traded lower against the U.S. Dollar at 90.64 Yen, a decline of .4%; immediately following the BOJ decision, however, the Yen had been up slightly, trading at 90.02 Yen.
The Euro also made gains on the Japanese Yen, trading at 125.00 Yen, an increase of .6%.
The single currency was helped tremendously by Greece’s removal from Standard and Poor’s credit watch list, as the austerity package put in place by the Greek government has been deemed “appropriate” by S&P officials. The Euro also rose against the U.S. Dollar, trading at $1.3787, an increase of .2% on the day; in Tuesday trading, the Euro rose almost .7%.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar will continue to be under downward pressure; investors are disappointed that the Federal Reserve intends to hold U.S. interest rates at their current low levels for an extended time, despite recent robust economic data.