Fragile yen could make BOJ's Ueda tilt more towards hawkish stance

The yen's slide to fresh 34-year lows is likely to force Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda to walk a delicate line in guiding monetary policy this week as he tries to maintain a calibrated path to exiting ultra-easy rates without upending the currency. The BOJ chief will be mindful of avoiding the episode of 2022, when his predecessor's dovish remarks triggered a yen plunge that forced Tokyo to intervene to prop up the currency. Ueda has ruled out the chance of aggressive rate hikes due to Japan's fragile economy, which has in part fed expectations of low-for-longer rates and emboldened yen bears.