Yen rises in Asia

TOKYO: The yen rose against the dollar in Asia on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) held off fresh easing measures, saying the world´s number three economy was picking up pace.

The dollar was trading at 101.17 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade after the BoJ announcement, down from around the 101.30 mark before the news and 101.32 yen in New York on Tuesday afternoon.

The euro slipped to 138.65 yen from 138.82 yen in US trade while it bought $1.3701, unchanged from US trade.

Japan´s central bank policy board after a two-day meeting unanimously agreed to keep its stimulus drive unchanged and said the economy was gathering speed, despite fears that an April 1 sales tax rise will dent consumer spending.

Markets are now looking to comments from BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda at about 3:30 pm (0630 GMT) for clues about when the bank might introduce further measures.

"The optimistic tone of recent BoJ communication suggests that the chances of additional stimulus being announced as soon as July have shrunk substantially, but we still think that more easing will eventually be required," said London-based Capital Economics.

Investors were also waiting for Wednesday´s release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve´s last meeting. The minutes cover a two-day Fed gathering that concluded on April 30 at which the Fed trimmed its stimulus programme by another $10 billion to $45 billion a month.

But the bank then repeated its view that benchmark interest rates would remain low for some time.

The minutes "will be closely scrutinised for any changes to forward guidance", National Australia Bank said in a note.