Investing.com - The dollar was higher against the yen on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan but extended a bank lending scheme in an attempt to boost the effectiveness of its monetary stimulus program, while the euro was little changed against the dollar.
USD/JPY hit 102.75, the highest since January 31 and was last up 0.41% to 102.33.
The drop in the yen came after the BoJ decided to double part of a growth lending program and said individual banks could borrow twice as much as previously under a second facility.
Policymakers voted to leave its main policy target unchanged. The bank also maintained its upbeat economic assessment, indicating that there will be no further monetary easing in the coming months.
Data on Monday showed that Japan’s economy expanded 1.0% in the final three months of 2013, well below forecast for growth of 2.8%.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.3706, holding just below Monday’s high of 1.3723, the highest since January 24.
The single currency received lingering support after data last week showed that the euro zone economy grew more strongly than expected in the fourth quarter.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD slid 0.17% to 1.6684, ahead of a report on U.K. consumer inflation later in the session, which was expected to show that inflation fell back below the Bank of England’s 2% target.
The dollar edged higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF rising 0.11% to 0.8922.
The Australian dollar slipped lower, with AUD/USD dipping 0.06% to 0.9025. The pair rose to one-month highs of 0.9081 earlier after the minutes of the Reserve Bank’s February meeting said a period of steady interest rates is most likely as record-low borrowing costs and a weaker currency support growth.
Meanwhile, NZD/USD fell 0.54% to 0.8321.
The U.S. dollar was little changed against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD inching up 0.05% to 1.0965.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.06% to 80.24.