Yen Slides After BoJ Leaves Monetary Policy Intact

(RTTNews) - The Japanese yen weakened against other major currencies in the early Asian session on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan retained its massive monetary policy stimulus, as widely expected.

The BoJ policy board, led by Governor Kazuo Ueda, unanimously decided to maintain a negative interest rate of 0.1 percent on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the central bank.

The bank also decided to regard the upper bound of 1.0 percent for 10-year JGB yields as a reference in its market operations.

Monday, the yen traded lower against its major rivals.

In the Asian trading now, the yen fell to 6-day lows of 157.02 against the euro and 181.97 against the pound, from yesterday's closing quotes of 155.90 and 180.45, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 160.00 against the euro and 186.00 against the pound.

Against the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the yen slid to 6-day lows of 143.78 and 165.79 from Monday's closing of 142.74 and 164.56, respectively. On the downside, 148.00 against the greenback and 169.00 against the franc are seen as the next support levels for the yen.

Against Australia, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the yen slipped to nearly a 2-week low of 96.61, a 1-week low of 89.50 and a 6-day low of 107.36 from yesterday's closing quotes of 95.71, 88.66 and 106.51, respectively. The next possible downside targets for the yen are seen around 98.00 against the aussie, 91.00 against the kiwi and 110.00 against the loonie.

Looking ahead, Switzerland's Federal Customs Administration is scheduled to issue foreign trade data for November at 2:00 am ET in the pre-European session.

In the European session, Eurozone final inflation figures for November and U.K. Industrial Trends survey results for December are slated for release.

At 4:00 am ET, European Central Bank board member Andrea Enria is scheduled to deliver the introductory statement at ECB Banking Supervision press conference.

At 8:00 am ET, Bank of England's Sarah Breeden is set to speak at the IIF talking policy series.

In the New York session, Canada CPI, PPI and raw material prices, all for November; U.S. preliminary building permits and housing starts for November; and U.S. Redbook report are set to be published.