Yen Drops Versus All Peers After BOJ Expands Easing

The yen fell versus all of its most-traded counterparts, paring a monthly advance, after the Bank of Japan (8301) added monetary stimulus for a second time in three months.

The yen dropped against the dollar and euro after BOJ officials increased the bank’s asset-purchase fund by 10 trillion yen ($123 billion) to 40 trillion yen, according to a statement released in Tokyo today. The euro weakened versus most of its major peers this month after Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s sovereign debt rating, adding to concern the region’s financial woes are spreading.

“The BOJ’s easing stance is fairly aggressive,” said Kengo Suzuki, a foreign-exchange strategist in Tokyo at Mizuho Securities Co., a unit of Japan’s third-largest bank by market value. “The yen is being sold in a knee-jerk reaction.”

The yen lost 0.4 percent to 81.31 per dollar at 1:03 p.m. in Tokyo. It declined 0.3 percent to 107.36 per euro. The 17- nation currency fell 0.1 percent to $1.3201.

All 14 economists in a Bloomberg News survey predicted additional easing with most expecting an increase in asset buying ranging from 5 trillion yen to 10 trillion yen.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristine Aquino in Singapore at kaquino1@bloomberg.net; Monami Yui in Tokyo at myui1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net