Yen Is a Whisker Away From Sliding to the Lowest in About 24 Years
- Japanese currency threatens fall to lowest since 1998
- Traders betting on widening policy gap between BOJ and Fed
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The yen is a whisker away from tumbling to the lowest in 24 years in a slide that threatens to turn what some see as an opportunity for Japan into an economic and financial headache for Asia and possibly beyond.
Caught in the crossfire between the two wildly different monetary policy regimes in Tokyo and Washington, in early Friday trading, the Japanese currency was less than one yen away from its 2002 high of 135.15 per dollar. Investors have been ramping up their short bets as the Bank of Japan keeps local yields capped to boost a sputtering economy while Treasury equivalents climb on rising interest-rate expectations.