Yen Rises On Japan FinMin Taro Aso Comments

The Japanese yen strengthened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday, after Japanese finance minister Taro Aso said that the government was yet to decide on the size of economic stimulus package.

While speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, Japanese finance minister Taro Aso said that he expect the BOJ to continue its utmost efforts toward price target of 2 percent.

"Govt leaves actual policy measures in hands of BOJ", Aso said.

The Bank of Japan will announce its interest rate decision this Friday. Speculations are rife that the BOJ is likely to take additional easing steps at the monetary policy meeting.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks fell following the overnight losses on Wall Street and the slide in crude oil prices to its lowest in almost three months. Investors also turned cautious ahead of central bank meetings in the U.S. and Japan this week.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is scheduled to begin a two-day monetary policy meeting later today. The central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the bank's accompanying statement is likely to be in focus, as investors attempt to gauge the outlook for the next rate hike.

Crude oil prices tumbled to the lowest in almost three months on Monday amid worries that supplies will outpace demand.

Monday, the yen showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the yen fell against the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, it held steady against the euro and the pound.

In the Asian trading, the yen rose to more than a 2-week high of 73.19 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 74.01. The yen may test resistance around the 70.00 area.

Against the pound, the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the yen advanced to near 2-week highs of 114.67, 137.69, 104.27 and 105.80 from yesterday's closing quotes of , 138.95, 105.79 and 107.29, respectively. If the yen extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 128.00 against the pound, 101.00 against the greenback and 102.00 against the franc.

Against the Australian and the Canadian dollars and the euro, the yen climbed to 2-week highs of 78.21, 79.02 and 114.67 from yesterday's closing quotes of 79.02, 80.05 and 116.30, respectively. On the upside, 74.00 against the aussie, 76.00 against the loonie and 110.00 against the euro are seen as the next resistance level for the yen.

Looking ahead, U.K. BBA mortgage approvals for June is due to be released at 4:30 am ET.

In the New York session, flash estimate of Markit's U.S. service sector PMI for July, U.S. consumer confidence index for July, new home sales data for June, U.S. S&P Case-Shiller home price index for May and U.S. Richmond Fed manufacturing index for July are slated for release.