Yen fall against dollar

The yen fell against the dollar over the past week, depressed by mounting expectations that the Japanese central bank will be slower than its US counterpart to raise interest rates, dealers said. The Japanese unit declined to 91.30 to the dollar in Tokyo on Friday from 89.84 to the dollar a week ago. There was no trading in New York on Friday for the Christmas holiday. The dollar benefited from growing speculation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next year earlier than predicted, dealers said. Investors generally prefer currencies offering the prospect of higher yields. In contrast, Japan's central bank has raised expectations that it will keep its key lending rate at the current level of 0.1 per cent for some time yet, declaring last week that it 'does not tolerate' deflation. The unemployment rate rose to 5.2 per cent in November from 5.1 per cent in October, worsening for the first time in four months, the government said. But the report was in line with market expectations. Asian currencies were mostly lower against the greenback this week, with the US unit rising amid speculation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates earlier next year than predicted.