The Japanese yen depreciated to around 153 per dollar on Thursday, nearing nine-month lows after the Bank of Japan kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.5%, in line with expectations. The decision was passed by a 7-2 vote, with board members Naoki Tamura and Hajime Takata once again calling for a rate hike to 0.75%, repeating their stance from September. The central bank also reiterated it will resume policy normalization if economic projections are realized. However, newly-elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is an advocate of loose monetary policy, complicating the outlook for further rate hikes. On Wednesday, the yen also continued to face pressure from a firmer dollar after the US Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected quarter-point rate cut, though Chair Jerome Powell stressed that another move in December was far from a “foregone conclusion,” citing internal divisions and limited federal data due to the shutdown.