Yen Surges Ahead BOJ Meeting

The Japanese yen rose early on Friday, meeting market expectations for soaring volatility with the Bank of Japan due to announce its monetary policy decision since Haruhiko Kuroda’s first as governor in April 2013.

The yen surged as much as 1.8 percent to 103.34 per dollar before trading at 104.25 as of 10:02 a.m. in Tokyo, from 105.32 in New York Thursday. Overnight implied volatility for the dollar-yen — the world’s second-most traded currency pair — climbed 40 percentage points on Thursday to 52.8 percent, the most since 2008.

“There was no visible news, but markets are nervous ahead of the BOJ meeting.” said Yuji Saito, Tokyo-based head of the foreign-exchange department at Credit Agricole SA.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flagged a 28 trillion yen ($265 billion) fiscal stimulus package to be approved by Cabinet this Friday, boosting pressure on the BOJ to help revive output and inflation. Four in five economists predict additional stimulus — with an increase in purchases of exchange-traded funds the most likely option, followed by a deeper cut in the negative deposit rate.