SYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) – The yen began the week on a shaky footing on Monday, with the dollar on track to take out the elusive 100 level, after the Group of 20 countries refrained from criticizing Japan’s reflationary policies that have significantly weakened its currency.

The dollar climbed to as high as 99.90 yen, within striking distance of a four-year high of 99.95 set on April 11 and the psychological 100 level, where option barriers are said to be lined up.

TOKYO, April 19 (Reuters) – Taiyo Life Insurance, Japan’s
sixth-largest life insurer, plans to increase its foreign bond
holdings and may cut investment in domestic bonds in the year to
March, the company’s director in charge of investment planning,
Chikahiro Tsuboi, said on Friday.

Tsuboi said Taiyo is growing cautious towards domestic
bonds, given the risk of future price falls after the Bank of
Japan embarked on radical monetary easing steps earlier this
month.

TOKYO, April 16 (Reuters) – The dollar recovered from
two-week lows against the yen on Tuesday on the back of
bargain-hunting but traders remained wary
of a further rout in gold prices that could spur demand for the
safe haven Japanese currency.

Commodity currencies such as the Australian dollar also
found support after a tumble the previous day as gold recouped
some losses after posting the biggest fall in about 30 years.

TOKYO, April 16 (Reuters) – The yen hit two-week highs while
commodity currencies tumbled on Tuesday after disappointing
Chinese data, a rout in commodity prices led by gold, and
explosions in Boston sapped risk sentiment.

Selling in the yen also lost momentum after the United
States said late last week in its currency report it would watch
Japan’s policies to ensure Tokyo was not devaluing the yen to
gain competitive advantage for exports.

TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) – Japanese government bond prices
dropped on Monday, with the 10-year yield hitting one-month
highs, as investors held off buying ahead of two bond auctions
this week while trying to read the intentions of the Bank of
Japan.

Although JGB yields hit record lows just after the BOJ
unveiled its aggressive quantitative easing plan, bond prices
have since given up all their gains as investors fretted over
the inflationary aspect of the central bank’s policy.

TOKYO, April 12 (Reuters) – Aimed at beating Japan’s
deflation and lowering bond yields, the Bank of Japan’s
unprecedented stimulus plan has so far severely destabilised the
Japanese government bond market, and risks turning once low-risk
low-return JGBs into high-risk low-return assets.

The BOJ’s huge buying, which makes it by far the largest
buyer of government bonds, and its heavy-handed operations have
distorted the market and made JGBs unpredictable, leading to
loss of investor confidence in the central bank’s ability to
rein in market interest rates.

TOKYO, April 11 (Reuters) – Japanese investors repatriated
record amounts of money though February and March as they reaped
the Bank of Japan’s new super-loose policy bonanza for markets,
but the seasonal rush home is showing the first signs of
reversing as a hunt for yield begins.

The latest data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance showed
investors continued to sell foreign assets and bring money into
the country in the first week of April, when Japanese investors
sold a net 1.145 trillion yen ($11.5 billion) worth of foreign
bonds, the biggest selling in a year.

TOKYO, April 11 (Reuters) – The dollar hovered near a
four-year high against the yen on Thursday after the minutes of
the U.S. Federal Reserve’s
March meeting raised expectations it will scale back its
bond-buying spree by the end of the year.

Such a possibility contrasts with the stance of the Bank of
Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda who signalled his readiness on
Wednesday to offer further stimulus or maintain an ultra-easy
policy beyond two years if meeting the bank’s 2-percent
inflation target proves difficult.

TOKYO, April 10 (Reuters) – Japanese government debt prices
fell on Wednesday ahead of an auction of 30-year bonds this
week, with investors locking in profits on sharp gains made
after the Bank of Japan announced sweeping stimulus measures.

The five-year yield rose to a one-year high as investors
were forced to dump that maturity after having bought too much
of it before last week’s easing in anticipation of the BOJ’s
buying.

TOKYO, April 4 (Reuters) – The yen dropped sharply on
Thursday after the Bank of Japan announced aggressive easing,
saying it will double its holdings of bonds and stocks in two
years.

The BOJ also said it would extend the average maturity of
bonds it holds to around seven years from around three years
now, dashing suspicions that it could underdeliver as it had
often in the past.