The Japanese yen experienced a widespread decline on Tuesday following the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) decision to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy.
The Japanese currency decreased by more than 0.3 percent. Against the euro, the yen slipped by 0.08 percent to 161.32, while the sterling increased by 0.2 percent to 188.28 yen.
In its two-day policy meeting conclusion on Tuesday, the BOJ held its short-term interest rate target steady at -0.1 percent and maintained the 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield target at around 0 percent.
The central bank also retained its forward guidance on monetary policy and revised down its growth forecast for core consumer prices to 2.4 percent in the upcoming fiscal year starting in April.
"With the confirmation of the continuation of monetary easing, [dollar/yen] may test 150," said Hirofumi Suzuki, chief FX strategist at SMBC in Tokyo, as quoted by Reuters.
Anticipation for a phasing out of negative interest rates in January has diminished following Japan's devastating New Year's Day earthquake and Governor Kazuo Ueda's dovish remarks.
Analysts now project an exit from the negative interest rate policy in the April meeting, particularly after the outcome of the Shunto wage negotiations.
"While we still see April as the most likely window, the risk that the BOJ will do the first hike later than April has been rising," said Joy Yang, head of Asian economic research at Point72.
Positive trends in yuan, Antipodean currencies
Meanwhile, in China, the prospect of implementing a rescue package for its struggling stock markets had a positive impact on the Chinese yuan and the Australian dollar.
The offshore yuan saw a 0.3 percent uptick, reaching 7.1700 per dollar, while its onshore counterpart saw a more than 0.3 percent increase, settling at 7.1714 per dollar.
In response to the positive developments, the Australian dollar surged by 0.5 percent to $0.6607. Similarly, the New Zealand dollar gained by 0.47 percent to $0.6106, rebounding from a two-month low of $0.60625 earlier in the session.
Reports from Bloomberg on Tuesday indicated that Chinese authorities were considering a set of measures to stabilize the stock market. Christopher Wong, a currency strategist at OCBC, commented on the impact of this news.
"The news has triggered risk proxies, including the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar ... higher," said Wong.
"It remains to be seen if this is just talk but if it does materialise sooner than later, then risk proxies can trade higher."
ECB to maintains rates, Dollar dips slightly
This week, the European Central Bank (ECB) is also set to convene, with expectations for the deposit rate to be maintained at the current four percent.
ECB policymakers, including President Christine Lagarde, have resisted market expectations for early rate cuts, providing some support for the euro. The currency traded largely sideways over recent sessions, increasing by 0.2 percent to $1.09055.
In the broader market, the dollar experienced a slight decline, causing the sterling to rise by 0.2 percent to $1.2737. The dollar index dipped 0.25 percent to 103.11, remaining close to the over-one-month high of 103.69 reached last week.
Traders adjusted their expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in March, supporting U.S. Treasury yields. The two-year yield stood at 4.38 percent, while the benchmark 10-year yield settled at 4.10 percent.
Looking ahead, economists at Wells Fargo anticipate that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will maintain its holding pattern in the upcoming meeting.