1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rises against yen on BOJ move

The U.S. dollar climbed against the Japanese yen to the highest level in six weeks on Friday as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) unexpectedly decided to implement a negative interest rate policy.

The BOJ said on Friday it would introduce negative interest rates from next month to encourage more lending and business spending amid projections the central bank will not clear its 2 percent inflation goal.

The bank said it would cut interest rates further into negative territory if necessary.

The yen fell about 2 percent against the greenback after the bank's decision, hitting a 6-week low versus the dollar during the session.

On the economic front, the U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to the advance estimate released by the Commerce Department Friday. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 2.0 percent.

The greenback rose against most major currencies on Friday. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, went up 1.06 percent at 99.559 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0829 dollars from 1.0958 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.4239 dollars from 1.4370 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar inched up to 0.7079 dollar from 0.7077 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 121.17 Japanese yen, higher than 118.78 yen of the previous session. The greenback rose to 1.0238 Swiss francs from 1.0133 Swiss francs and decreased to 1.4001 Canadian dollars from 1.4061 Canadian dollars. Enditem