The U.S. Dollar Momentarily Climbed to 145 Yen

The U.S. dollar briefly rose to the lower 145 yen range in Tokyo on Monday, surpassing the 145 yen line for the first time since Japan intervened in the currency market in late September. Strong inflationary data in the United States fueled speculation of aggressive interest rate hikes in the world’s largest economy.

Friday, the dollar was worth 145.02-04 yen, compared to 144.70-80 yen in NY and 144.32-33 yen in Tokyo.

Late Friday afternoon, the euro was at 0.9811-9812 and 142.28-32 yen against $0.9795-9805 and 141.92-142.02 yen in N.Y. and $0.9832-9834 and 141.89-93 yen in Tokyo.

Earlier in the day, the dollar surged to 145.40 yen after U.S. economic data late last week indicated that personal expenditure in the United States increased 0.4 percent in August from the previous month, up from a 0.2 percent decline in July.

The Fed will continue to boost interest rates to contain growing inflation. It will expand the interest rate disparity between the United States and Japan. The Bank of Japan expects to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy.

The U.S. dollar touched a new 24-year high of 145.90 yen. Japan spent 2.84T yen ($19B) in its first yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention since 1998.

Meanwhile, after buybacks recovered early losses, Japanese stocks finished higher after the Bank of Japan’s Tankan business survey’s weaker-than-expected results.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed at 26,225.79, up 278.528 points, or 1.07 percent, from Friday. The Topix index finished 11.64 points, or 0.63 percent, higher at 1,847.58.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond fell 0.005 percentage points from Friday’s closing to 0.240 percent, following the trend of very long-term bonds.