Dollar soars to 124.25 yen, highest in more than 12 years

The dollar soared to its highest level against the yen in more than 12 years on Thursday, powered by expectations for a US interest rate hike and more monetary easing from Japan’s central bank. The greenback briefly touched 124.25 yen in Tokyo, its highest level since late 2002, before settling back to 124.14 yen. That compares with 123.63 yen in New York late Wednesday. The dollar has resumed its bull run against the yen on growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by the end of the year while the Bank of Japan is tipped to launch more stimulus to kickstart a sluggish economy.