The yen has slumped past the key psychological level of ?140 per dollar for the first time in almost a quarter of a century, a move that may extend as the divergence between U.S. and Japanese monetary policy widens.
The yen traded at ?140.01 in the early Tokyo session Friday. And options markets show traders are betting there might be more to come, with pricing skewed toward contracts that will pay off if dollar-yen keeps rising.
The slide in the yen ¡ª the worst performer this year among Group-of-10 currencies ¡ª reflects a growing split between the Bank of Japan, which is keeping policy loose to bolster the economy, and a Federal Reserve that has been at pains to stress its inflation-fighting bona fides.
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