Yen declined in Asian trade on Monday on track for the eighth straight loss against the US dollar, plumbing two-month lows after the Bank of Japans decision to delay a plan to reduce bonds purchases to the July meeting.

The yen is once again approaching the 160 yen per dollar barrier, considered a red line by the Bank of Japan, which might prompt another intervention to support the currency.

The losses are stymied by bullish remarks by several policymakers calling for a rate hike to control inflation.

The Price

The USD/JPY pair rose 0.1% today to 159.93, the highest since April 29, with a session-low at 159.58.

The yen lost 0.55% on Friday against the dollar, the seventh loss in a row, marking the longest such streak of losses since March.

The yen also lost 1.5% last week overall against the dollar, the heftiest weekly loss since early May.

At the June meeting, the Bank of Japan maintained its current plan of buying 6 trillion yen a month of Japanese government bonds.

The markets were hoping for an announcement of reduction to that pace of monthly purchases.

The 160 Red Line

The 160 has become a red line for the Bank of Japan, after spending $60 billion in the forex market in late April to prop up the currency around that level.

Bullish Stance

A collection of opinions and remarks by BOJ policymakers following the latest June meeting showed that several of them directly called for further interest rate hikes to control inflation.

Japanese Authorities

Several analysts believe that Japan will directly intervene in the forex market to prop up the local currency, even with the threat of the US adding Japan to the forex watch list.