Yen hangs near 160 amid BOJ rate-hike bets, dollar wobbles

Business Recorder reported that the yen steadied near 160 per dollar on Tuesday following pressure from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who urged the Bank of Japan to raise rates later this month. Bessent told CNBC he believed Japan's government and the central bank would act in ways that strengthen the yen. The currency last traded at 159.81 per dollar, having slipped past 160 in the two previous sessions, while traders kept watch on renewed Middle East hostilities.

A fresh round of direct attacks between the United States and Iran, the first in a month, pushed Brent crude futures above $91 a barrel and lifted Treasury yields. Markets are pricing a 73 per cent chance of a Bank of Japan rate increase this month, but analysts argued that a single hike would not be enough to pull the yen clear of 160.

The US dollar eased from Friday's gains as investors weighed a rising chance of a Federal Reserve hike in September, after Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh struck a hawkish tone last week. Traders now put the chance of a Fed increase later this month at 65 per cent, up from 41 per cent a week earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The dollar index slipped to 99.37, while the euro held at $1.1623 and sterling fetched $1.35575.