TOKYO: The yen strengthened in Asia on Thursday after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) wrapped up its last policy meeting under governor Masaaki Shirakawa with no fresh policy measures.
The greenback changed hands at 93.87 yen in Tokyo, against 94.04 yen in New York late Wednesday, while the euro bought 121.97 yen from 122.00 yen.
The European currency gained to $1.2992 against $1.2971, ahead of a policy meeting of the European Central Bank later in the day.
The BoJ, which left rates unchanged at zero to 0.1 percent, also offered an upbeat view on the world's third-largest economy, saying it has "stopped weakening" and was "expected to level off more or less for the time being".
The bank was widely expected to take no action as Shirakawa prepares to step down later this month, about three weeks before the end of his term, after he clashed publicly with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over policy.
Shirakawa's expected replacement, Haruhiko Kuroda, is likely to be confirmed by parliament in the coming weeks.
Kuroda, 68, has long criticised the BoJ for doing too little to lift the world's third-largest economy, and is likely to lead a fresh drive for more spending and aggressive monetary easing to beat deflation, in line with Abe's wishes.
Analysts said the focus would now turn to Kuroda's first policy meeting next month as speculation grows that the new-look BoJ will launch aggressive easing measures, which tend to weaken the yen.
The dollar had won a measure of support after US payrolls firm ADP said the private sector added 198,000 jobs in February, well above expectations, stoking optimism for the government's February jobs report due Friday.
Forex markets were also looking ahead to monetary policy meetings at the European Central Bank and Bank of England later in the day.
"FX markets are guarding against downward revisions to the ECB's inflation forecasts and the attendant risk of some form of additional policy easing," National Australia Bank said in a note.
There was "an evident fear" that the pound will be hit once more should the Bank of England vote in favour of additional easing measures, it added.
The pound slipped to $1.5000 in Asian trade from $1.5017 in New York on Wednesday. It had fallen in New York Wednesday to below $1.50 for the first time since July 2010.
The British unit has been under pressure after Moody's stripped the country of its coveted triple-A debt rating last month, citing weak growth prospects and a big public debt.
The dollar was mostly higher against other Asia-Pacific currencies.
It rose to 1,086.58 South Korean won from 1,083.65 won a day earlier, to 54.77 Indian rupees from 54.66 rupees, to 40.75 Philippine pesos from 40.68 pesos, and to 9,693 Indonesian rupiah from 9,688 rupiah.
It also firmed to Tw$29.67 from Tw$29.62, and to Sg$1.2481 from Sg$1.2447 while it was flat at 29.75 Thai baht.
The Australian dollar slipped to $1.0250 from $1.0277 while the Chinese yuan strengthened to 15.06 yen from 14.96 yen.
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