The yen fell below the 153 line against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday in New York for the first time in nearly 34 years, as data showing higher-than-anticipated U.S. inflation added to expectations that the Federal Reserve may delay interest rate cuts.
The U.S. consumer price index data for March, showing a 3.5 percent increase compared to a year earlier, raised questions about how early the Fed will begin to bring down borrowing costs given its use of high rates to fight persistent inflation in the world's largest economy.
The reading, released in the morning, triggered further dollar-buying and yen-selling, which briefly sent the embattled Japanese currency to 153.24, a level last seen in June 1990.
At 5 p.m. in New York, the yen traded at 153.14-24 per dollar, compared with 151.84-85 in the late afternoon Wednesday in Tokyo.
Investors have been selling the yen for the dollar amid wide rate differentials between Japan and the United States, as their central banks have been pursuing divergent ultraloose and tight monetary policies, respectively.
While the Bank of Japan recently hiked interest rates for the first time in 17 years, it has signaled it will maintain an accommodative stance for the time being.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has kept the benchmark interest rate at a 23-year high, with policymakers at the country's central bank suggesting at their meeting in late March that they see the need for three interest rate cuts later this year.
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