The pair started the session at Y101.93 after a subdued overnight session marked by the President’s Day holiday in the US. Early demand from Japanese names lifted the pair back through Y102.00 but was initially capped by offers at the Y102.20/25 region. Dollar-yen consolidated some of the initial gains around midway through the morning before fresh selling on yen crosses pushed dollar-yen back down to around Y101.90. It was holding near there when the Bank of Japan made its policy announcement and the pair quickly deflated to a Y101.76 low as the BOJ announced plans to double the scale of its program to make low-interest pro-growth loans to financial institutions. But dollar-yen then reversed its fortunes soon after as fresh demand re-emerged off the low,triggering a squeeze on some short positions, which then carried dollar-yen back up to trade a fresh high for the session so far at Y102.62. Euro-yen meanwhile opened at Y139.70 and rose early to Y140.01 before stalling. The cross dropped from Y139.80 to Y139.50 immediately after the BOJ announcement but came back strongly to trade a session high of Y140.72. Dollar-yen was last at Y102.52 while the cross was at Y140.62.
