TOKYO: The dollar rose to its highest level in nearly nine months against the yen in Asia on Thursday as the safe-haven Japanese unit lost ground on higher risk sentiment after a US Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The greenback strengthened to 83.43 yen in Tokyo trade, its highest level since late March, and up from 83.24 yen in New York Wednesday afternoon.
The euro firmed to 108.97 yen from 108.85 yen ahead of weekend Japanese elections widely expected to usher in a new government, while slipping to $1.3062 from $1.3075 in US trade.
After a two-day meeting, the policy committee of the US central bank said it would replace its "Operation Twist" bond swapping programme with $45 billion a month in straight bond buys, on an open-ended basis.
That comes on top of the $40 billion a month purchasing announced earlier.
The Fed also provided a surprise by saying it would not lift rates as long as the inflation outlook was below 2.5 percent and the jobless rate, now at 7.7 percent, stays above 6.5 percent.
The Fed move has stoked expectations of further easing by the European Central Bank and Japanese policymakers, dealers said.
"Globally, we expect further easing by central banks, and stocks are rising in turn. The yen as a result should weaken," a senior bank dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.
The yen has been weakening recently as the frontrunner to become Japan's next prime minister after weekend elections said he would pressure the Bank of Japan for more aggressive easing to prop up the world's third-largest economy.
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