The yen weakened after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank's price target was not in sight, paring Thursday's gains spurred by comments from a BOJ board member. A gauge of the dollar paused its advance following remarks from a Federal Reserve official.
USD/JPY rose 0.3% to 150.36 as Ueda's comments ran contrary to that of BOJ board member Hajime Takata who said that the central bank's price target is finally coming into sight.
"Governor Ueda's dovish tone is contributing to a gradual weakness in the yen," said Keiichi Iguchi, a senior strategist at Resona Holdings Inc. in Tokyo. "Still, looking at the market reaction to BOJ board member Takata's remarks on Thursday, the yen is likely to see quite a large upward pressure temporarily if the BOJ ends the negative-rate policy in March".
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index little changed after gaining in the last three sessions.
Yield on 10-year Treasury rose one basis point to 4.26%, oil and iron ore prices rose.
New York Fed President John Williams said he doesn't see a need for officials to tighten policy further and reiterated that he expects the central bank to cut rates later this year.
AUD/USD adds 0.2% to 0.6511; it's down 0.8% this week.
Aussie was supported by better than expected factory activity in China.
Source : Bloomberg
