The yen slid to its trough versus the greenback, touching a level not seen in 30 years after BOJ held steady its interest rate on Friday, spiking investors anticipation about the probability of intervention, particularly if the US dollar ticked up on inflation figures.

The Japanese yen edged down by 0.74% at 156.82 per dollar, a trough not witnessed since 1990.

JPY/EUR plunged also to its lowest level in average 16 years versus the euro at 168.23, and its easiest in almost 10 years against the AUD.

Following the two consecutive day meeting, BOJ kept its interest rate for a short-term period at BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said the weak yen so far has not had a big impact on the inflation trend at 0-0.1% and made minor higher revisions to its outlook for inflation. Investors had not predicted a policy change but decided that there are only minor movements left to do.

The dip by 11% versus the greenback in 2024 marks the biggest slump for any G10 currency, triggered widely by the differences between US and the bond yields which is over 378 bps for the10-year tenor.