The Japanese yen strengthened toward 155.5 per dollar on Wednesday, recovering some losses from the previous session as a softer dollar reflected expectations of deeper US Federal Reserve rate cuts. Domestically, investors continued to weigh the likelihood of a Bank of Japan rate hike this month following hawkish signals from policymakers, despite the view that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government favors loose monetary settings. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama noted this week that there is no divergence between the government and the BOJ in their economic assessments, underscoring continued alignment between fiscal and monetary policy. Katayama’s comments followed remarks from BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda, who expressed confidence in Japan’s economic outlook and said the central bank would carefully consider the pros and cons of raising interest rates at its December policy meeting.