The Japanese yen fell to its lowest level in 34 years during trading on Thursday, April 25, as the bank began a two-day meeting to set interest rates, amid concerns about a possible intervention to support the currency.
After trading in a tight range over the past few days, the dollar broke above 155 yen for the first time since 1990 in the previous session. The greenback hit a 34-year high of 155.74 yen on Thursday.
Speculation is mounting that the Japanese government will intervene to support the yen, which has stalled the dollar's rise towards the level that some market participants see as the mark at which Tokyo will intervene.
As the Bank of Japan meets to discuss monetary policy, the central bank is expected to leave its short-term interest rate target unchanged at the end of the meeting on Friday after ending its negative interest rate policy last month.
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said this week that the central bank would raise interest rates again if inflation accelerates toward its 2% target as expected.
On the other hand, the dollar recovered some losses against other currencies after a slight decline earlier in the week following strong business activity data in the single currency area and Britain that led to a rise in the euro and the pound sterling.
In terms of trading, the yen fell against the dollar by about 0.3% to 155.67 yen per dollar.
