US dollar continues to rise against yen

The US dollar continued to gain against Japanese yen Friday on speculation that more Bank of Japan monetary easing will come. The yen hit 105 to the U.S. dollar for the first time in five years, reflecting appetite for risk. The yen was weakened after the Bank of Japan said last week that it would maintain monetary easing measures until annual inflation is stable at 2 percent. On the other hand, the U.S. Federal Reserve last week announced a reduction of its asset-purchasing program from 85 billion dollars to 75 billion dollars beginning from January and it didn't rule out further reductions in the coming months. The White House said Thursday President Barack Obama has signed a bipartisan budget bill which covers spending levels for the next two fiscal years. The bill would prevent the risk of another government shutdown in January. The U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield topped 3 percent on Friday, hitting a two-and-half year high, signaling improvement in U.S. economy and that the Federal Reserve will withdraw stimulus steadily. In late New York trading, the euro gained to 1.3739 dollars from 1.3693 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.6467 dollars from 1.6421 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.8865 dollars from 0.8891 dollars. The dollar bought 105.14 Japanese yen, higher than 104.71 yen of the previous session. The dollar moved down to 0.8924 Swiss franc from 0.8963 Swiss franc, and it moved up to 1.0707 Canadian dollars from 1.0641 Canadian dollars.