In this photo illustration, US 100 dollar bills seen on an American flag.
Igor Golovniov | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images
The dollar hit a new five-year top on the yen on Friday after a strong U.S. inflation report, while the euro struggled to hold its own as a hawkish turn from the European Central Bank was offset by growth risks emanating from the Ukraine crisis.
The greenback rose as high as 116.55 yen in early trade, its highest level since January 2017. The dollar is up 1.5% on the yen this week, its biggest weekly gain since October.
“Dollar-yen looks to be overwhelmingly a yield play. It seems the contrast between an on-hold BOJ and a Fed readying for liftoff is just too tempting to ignore,” said Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac.
Both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan have policy meetings next week, but while the Fed is all but certain to hike rates from their pandemic low, the BOJ is set to…
