Yen at 2-month low on Yellen remarks, further slide likely

Tokyo

THE yen hit a two-month low against the US dollar and a four-month low against the British pound yesterday with analysts predicting that it could go significantly lower in the wake of US Federal Reserve chairman-elect Janet Yellen's dovish comments at her confirmation hearing in Washington.

Ms Yellen implied to Congress that she will be in no hurry to begin "tapering" Fed purchases of US government bonds when she is expected to take over at the Fed in January. This sent Asian and other stocks soaring yesterday. Tokyo re-entered "bull market" territory as the Nikkei average broke above the 15,000 level.