Yen Advances As BoJ Refrains From Adding More Stimulus

The Japanese yen was modestly higher in Asian deals on Wednesday, after the Bank of Japan held off from further easing and maintained its target for expanding monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY 80 trillion, by an 8 to 1 vote.

The decision was in line with economists' expectations.

The bank said that the annual rate of increase in consumer prices was flat. Inflation expectations appear to be rising on the whole from a somewhat longer-term perspective.

The BoJ maintained its optimistic assessment of the economy by stating that the economy has continued to recover moderately as a trend.

Traders await more signals about any potential future BoJ easing, when its chief Haruhiko Kuroda holds press conference in the afternoon.

The risk-on mode in Asia limited further gains in the currency. The Asian markets are mostly higher, as oil prices extended gain after U.S. Department of Energy's latest forecast showed tighter oil supplies next year.

The currency was trading lower against the pound, franc and the euro on Tuesday. Against the U.S. dollar, it trended higher.

The yen strengthened to a 5-day high of 119.76 against the greenback, up by 0.37 percent from Tuesday's closing value of 120.20. The yen is seen challenging resistance around the 118.5 mark.

The yen advanced to 123.87 against the franc and 135.03 against the euro, coming off from its prior more than a 2-week low of 124.42 and a 2-day low of 135.63, respectively. The yen ended Tuesday's trading at 124.30 versus the franc and 135.44 versus the euro. On the upside, the yen may locate resistance around 122.00 against the franc and 133.00 against the euro.

Having fallen to near a 2-week low of 183.36 against the pound at 9:40 pm ET, the yen reversed direction with the pair trading at 182.50. The pair was worth 182.98 when it finished Tuesday's trading. If the yen extends gains, 181.00 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The yen rebounded to 91.94 against the loonie and 85.93 against the aussie, from its early more than a 5-week low of 92.37 and more than a 2-week low of 86.37, respectively. The next possible resistance levels for the yen may be found around 90.5 against the loonie and 84.00 against the aussie.

Preliminary Japanese leading index for August is due at 1:00 am ET.

German industrial production for August is set for release in the pre-European session at 2:00 am ET.

U.K. industrial and manufacturing output for August will be published in the European session.

Canada building permits for August, Energy Information Administration's crude inventory data for the week ended October 2 and U.S. consumer credit for August are to be released in the New York session.