By Rae Wee
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -The yen rose after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) hiked rates on Friday and revised up its inflation forecasts, while the Australian and New Zealand dollars surged on U.S. President Donald Trump's comments suggesting a softer stance on tariffs against China.
The BOJ raised rates by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting, in a move that had been well telegraphed by policymakers prior to the outcome.
The yen swung between losses and gains in choppy trade shortly after the decision, as traders weighed the implications of the non-unanimous vote against the BOJ's higher price forecasts.
The Japanese currency later turned decisively higher and was up last up more than 0.5% to 155.23 per dollar.
"Dollar/yen went both ways likely in reaction to the non-unanimous vote, but it subsequently eased. The upward revision to CPI forecast also exudes a sense of confidence the policymakers have with regard to inflation and the economy meeting expectations," said Christopher Wong, a currency strategist at OCBC.
Earlier on Friday, data showed Japan's core consumer prices rose 3.0% in December from a year earlier to mark the fastest annual pace in 16 months.
Focus now turns to BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda's post-meeting briefing later in the day for further clues on the pace and timing of future rate hikes.
Elsewhere, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were riding high from Trump's interview with Fox News aired on Thursday evening, where he said he would rather not have to use tariffs over China and that he thought he could reach a trade deal with the world's second-largest economy.
The Aussie jumped more than 0.6% to reach a five-week top of $0.6324, while the kiwi similarly scaled a five-week peak of $0.57105.
The two Antipodean currencies are often used as liquid proxies for the Chinese yuan.
"It's still early days, although it looks like he prefers to negotiate with China first and perhaps come to a deal, rather than to use tariffs," said Sim Moh Siong, a currency strategist at Bank of Singapore.
"If he goes down the route of holding back on tariffs but instead coming to a deal with China, then you could see more relief coming through in terms of the Asian currencies as well as the Aussie and the kiwi."
The Chinese yuan similarly got a lift on the back of Trump's remarks, with the onshore unit rising to its strongest level in six weeks at 7.2450 per dollar.
Its offshore counterpart also peaked at its highest since Dec. 11 at 7.2519 per dollar.