Early trade in New York: dollar hits four-year high versus yen, edging close to 100

The dollar rose to a four-year peak against the yen within striking distance of the key 100 mark on Wednesday after minutes of the Federal Reserve's March meeting reinforced expectations of an end to its bond-buying sooner rather than later. The Fed's stance stood in stark contrast to aggressive monetary easing steps from the Bank of Japan last week when it pledged to pump about $1.4 trillion into the economy in less than two years in a bid to beat decades-long deflation.
The dollar rose to 99.72 yen on Reuters data, matching the high set in May 2009. It was last at 99.54 yen, up 0.5 percent. Technical resistance lies at 99.73 yen, the 50 percent retracement of the dollar's drop from its June 2007 high of 124.14 yen to a record low of 75.311 yen set in October 2011. The euro rose 0.5 percent to 130.17 yen, having risen as high as 130.50 yen on Reuters data, the strongest since January 2010. Against the dollar, the euro was little changed at $1.3077, after hitting a one-month peak of $1.3121.