The U.S. dollar remained firm against the Japanese yen in New York on Friday, briefly rising to 140.80 yen, as the latest U.S. jobs data strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve would pursue more aggressive interest rate hikes to fight inflation.
At 5 p.m., the dollar traded at 140.07-17 yen after hitting its highest level since August 1998. It fetched 140.24-26 yen at 5 p.m. in Tokyo and 140.15-25 in New York late Thursday.
The data released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department showed a tightening labor market, with the economy creating 315,000 nonfarm jobs in August, beating the market consensus.
Anticipated aggressive rate hikes by the Fed are expected to widen the gap in yields on U.S. and Japanese government bonds, as the Bank of Japan sticks to its ultraloose monetary policy.
