Summary The yen gained against the euro and dollar after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won re-election.
NEW YORK (AFP) - The yen gained against the euro and dollar Monday after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won re-election in a snap poll billed as a referendum on his economic policies.
The yen edged up to 146.50 to the euro and 117.81 to the dollar as Abe won handily in an election Sunday marred by a small turnout of voters.
It left no challenge in his way as he presses to reflate the Japanese economy through a package of more easy money and still-awaited business and social reforms.
Boris Schlossberg of BK Asset Management noted that Abe s election victory on Sunday propelled the yen higher but then it sagged backward on a disappointing Tankan business survey which showed the country s manufacturing sector continues to slide.
But another tumble in crude oil prices Monday also lent it support.
"The price action in USD/JPY meanwhile remains volatile but contained to the 120.00-118.00 corridor," Schlossberg said.
It should stay there until the end of the Federal Reserve s two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, he added.
The Federal Open Market Committee will give updated US economic forecasts and could change its predictive language for an interest rate hike to give it some flexibility of movement without shocking markets which it does move.
The dollar traded up slightly against the euro ahead of the opening of the FOMC meeting Tuesday.
