TOKYO—The dollar dropped to a three-week low versus the yen on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell assuaged investors’ worries about continued aggressive monetary tightening.
The U.S. currency sank as low as 135.105 yen, its weakest since July 6 after the Fed raised the benchmark rate by an as-expected 75 basis points to bring it closer to neutral, while noting that although the labor market remains strong, other economic indicators have softened.
The dollar-yen is highly sensitive to shifts in U.S. yields, which slid after Powell said that based on the strength of employment, he didn’t believe the economy was in recession, and that a recession was not necessarily required to tame super-heated inflation….