The New Year’s Day earthquake on Japan’s western coast had already cleared away most remaining bets for a shock stimulus exit on Jan. 23. At least 168 lives had been claimed as of Monday, with more than 300 people still missing.
Despite that, the yen was the strongest major currency in Asia on Tuesday, climbing about 0.4% against the dollar, which remained resilient against its other major peers.
Long-term Treasury yields, which tend to drive the currency pair, did pull back overnight after reaching their highest since mid-December late last week, but were still firmly above 4%.
Meanwhile, stimulus expectations were stirring in Beijing, after a People’s Bank of China official was quoted by state media as saying policy tools would be used to support reasonable growth in credit.
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