(Update) Yen Plunges as BOJ Signals Dovish Stance

   Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)--The yen plunged against the dollar and other major currencies in Tokyo trading on Thursday as the Bank of Japan signaled a dovish policy stance.
   The dollar briefly rose above 157 yen for the first time in about five months, after trading at 156.48-48 yen at 5 p.m., up from 153.57-59 yen at the same time Wednesday. The euro was at 1.0394-0395 dollars, down from 1.0496-0497 dollars, and at 162.63-68 yen, up from 161.20-21 yen.
   The dollar topped 155 yen after the BOJ said shortly before noon that it had decided to keep interest rates unchanged at a two-day policy meeting that ended earlier in the day.
   The greenback later surpassed 156 yen as the Japanese currency came under further selling after BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda told a press conference that there is great uncertainty about the next U.S. administration's policies, sounding cautious about rate hikes.
   "There was no sign of a January rate hike (at the press conference), so speculation grew that the BOJ could again skip a rate hike in January," an official at a Japanese bank said.

(2024/12/19-18:08)