Dollar stands tall

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TOKYO/SINGAPORE: The dollar stood tall and set a three-week high against the yen on Thursday, after the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve´s latest policy meeting rekindled expectations for a June interest rate hike.

The dollar rose to 110.27 yen at one point, its strongest since April 28, marking a gain of nearly 4.5 percent from an 18-month low of 105.55 yen in early May.

The greenback later came off that high and last stood at 110.05 yen, down 0.1 percent on the day.

While the dollar could see further gains against the yen in the near term, the pace is likely to become more gradual given the potential for dollar-selling by Japanese exporters, said a trader for a Japanese bank in Tokyo.  "There is no doubt that the levels are becoming attractive for exporters to conduct some currency hedging," he said.

 A number of major Japanese exporters have set their dollar/yen exchange rate assumptions for the 2016/17 business year, which began in April, at levels around 110 yen to 105 yen.

Among them are major car makers Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co, which are both assuming an average dollar rate of 105 yen in 2016/17.