Japanese yen weakens above 160 per dollar

By Tuba Ongun

The Japanese yen on Wednesday weakened to above 160 against the greenback, its lowest level since 1986.

The dollar/yen parity rose to as high as 160.62 during trading, fueling expectations that Japanese authorities will intervene in the currency markets.

So far this year, the yen plunged 13.8% amid a policy gap between the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the US Federal Reserve.

The yen's loss gained momentum in June as the BoJ delayed details of its bond purchase cuts until its July meeting.

At its June meeting, the bank left interest rates unchanged, meeting expectations, but traders were surprised as no timeline was given for reducing its purchases.

In March, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years, the last major central bank to drop its negative interest rate policy.