TOKYO, May 10 (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
scored another small victory as the yen broke below major
support of 100 to the dollar, with analysts predicting further
declines over the course of the year that would underpin the
export-dependent economy.

The yen fell to as low as 101.20 per dollar, down
more than two percent from Thursday’s high around 98.65, and the
lowest level in over four and a half years.

TOKYO, May 8 (Reuters) – Japanese government bonds were
narrowly mixed on Wednesday, with a good auction result
helping them pare early losses sparked by firmer share prices.

While the market has regained stability in recent weeks,
with the 10-year cash bond yield sitting comfortably within its
recent trading band, some market players worry further advances
in stock prices could prompt investors to rotate out of JGBs and
into equities.

SYDNEY/TOKYO, May 7 (Reuters) – The Australian dollar
slumped to a two-month trough on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank
of Australia cut rates to a record low, while the euro remained
capped as the common currency was unable to shake off dovish
comments from the European Central Bank chief.

The yen bounced back from a 10-day low versus the dollar on
Japanese exporters’ buying after a long weekend in Japan, though
many traders expect the currency to stay under pressure after a
solid U.S. job report last week.

SYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) – The euro struggled to gain any momentum on Tuesday after the European Central Bank chief reiterated his readiness to take more action while the Australian dollar nursed losses as bears bet on the prospect of a cut in interest rates later in the session.

The yen bounced back from a 10-day low versus the dollar on Japanese exporters’ buying after a long weekend in Japan, though many traders expect the currency to stay under pressure after a solid U.S. job report last week.

SYDNEY/TOKYO, May 1 (Reuters) – The dollar languished near a
two-month low against a basket of currencies on Wednesday as
investors wagered the U.S. central bank will recommit to its
aggressive stimulus programme, or even possibly expand it.

The dollar index was at 81.726 , after having
fallen to a low of 81.598 on Tuesday. The break below 81.744,
the 38.2 percent retracement of its January-April rally, has
opened the way to 81.204, the 50 percent retracement level.

SYDNEY/TOKYO, May 1 (Reuters) – The dollar languished near a
two-month low against a basket of currencies on Wednesday as
investors wagered the U.S. central bank will recommit to its
aggressive stimulus programme, or even possibly expand it.

The dollar index was at 81.726 , after having
fallen to a low of 81.598 on Tuesday. The break below 81.744,
the 38.2 percent retracement of its January-April rally, has
opened the way to 81.204, the 50 percent retracement level.

SINGAPORE/TOKYO, April 26 (Reuters) – The dollar fell versus
the yen on Friday, pulling away from a four-year high struck
earlier this month, with traders citing profit-taking and
yen-buying by Japanese exporters as currency markets turned
their attention to the outcome of the Bank of Japan policy
review.

Japanese exporters apparently sold the dollar ahead of their
“Golden Week” holidays next week, said a trader for a Japanese
bank in Singapore, adding that they appeared more active than
usual.

TOKYO, April 26 (Reuters) – The dollar traded near a
four-year high against the yen and kept an upper hand against
the euro on Friday after an unexpectedly big slide in U.S.
jobless claims alleviated some concerns about a slowdown in the
world’s biggest economy.

Major currencies were trading in tight ranges ahead of a
Bank of Japan policy meeting and economic outlook report as well
as U.S. growth figures later in the day.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s life insurers, potential global market movers with $3 trillion in assets, have signalled they may boost their holdings of foreign bonds without currency hedges to the highest in five years, which could depress both overseas bond yields and the yen.

But annual investment plans for the fiscal year from April 1 suggest that, while the Bank of Japan’s quantitative easing will squeeze them out of domestic bonds and into U.S. and European debt, they will make no drastic moves and will remain cautious on currency hedging. That means their investment strategies will likely have only a limited impact on the yen.

TOKYO, April 24 (Reuters) – Japan’s Meiji Yasuda Life
Insurance Co is planning to increase its foreign bond
investment as the Bank of Japan’s massive stimulus makes
domestic bonds less attractive, a company executive said on
Wednesday.

Japan’s third-largest private life insurer with total assets
of about 30 trillion yen ($302 billion) tentatively plans to buy
about 500 billion yen of foreign bonds in the fiscal year that
began this month, or nearly half its targeted increase in assets
for the year, Toshihiko Yamashita, chief executive of the
insurer’s investment division, told a news conference.