Investing.com - The yen backed away from one-week lows against the dollar on Wednesday amid doubts that possible further easing by the Bank of Japan would cause a significant downside for the currency.
USD/JPY was at 102.81, up 0.23% after rising as high as 103.35 earlier, the most since September 6.
EUR/JPY was at 115.93, after rising to a seven-day high of 116.07 earlier.
The yen weakened overnight following reports that the BoJ is consider putting more focus on negative interest rates in its future monetary easing measures.
But the Japanese currency regained ground amid doubts that further stimulus measures from the country’s central bank would turn into a source of major weakness.
The dollar was steady against the other major currencies as uncertainty over the timing of the next Federal Reserve rate hike continued.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies was at 95.56.
Fed Governor Lael Brainard said on Monday that the case to tighten monetary policy in the coming months is less compelling.
The comments dampened expectations for a rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting which is scheduled for September 20-21.
Expectations of higher interest rates typically boost the dollar by making it more attractive to yield seeking investors.
The euro was flat against the dollar, with EUR/USD at 1.1222.
Sterling was little changed, with GBP/USD at 1.3188.
In the U.K., data on Wednesday showed that the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9% in the three months to July, despite the Brexit vote, but wage growth slowed.