US$ hits 6-week high against yen

New York

THE US dollar rose sharply on Friday, hitting a six-week high versus the yen, after the Bank of Japan took one of its main interest rates into negative territory and US gross domestic product data largely matched economists' expectations.

The BOJ said that it would apply a negative interest rate of minus 0.1 per cent on selected current account deposits that financial institutions hold with it, effectively charging banks interest for holding excess deposits at the central bank.