Yen Drops for Fifth Week on Post-Election Stimulus Speculation

The yen slumped for a fifth week against the dollar, the longest streak since March, before Japanese opposition leader Shinzo Abe, an advocate of unlimited monetary stimulus, is projected to win weekend elections.

The 17-nation euro gained against all of its major peers after European Union finance ministers agreed to put the European Central Bank in charge of the area’s lenders. The dollar fell against the majority of its most-traded peers as the Federal Reserve said it will buy an additional $45 billion of Treasuries a month, which may debase the currency. The Japanese currency reached an almost nine-month low as the Bank of Japan said its Tankan index for large companies fell to its lowest level since March 2010. Japan’s election is tomorrow.