TOKYO, Aug 10 Reuters The dollar rose to a onemonth high above 144 yen on Thursday as monetary policy divergence was front of investors39; minds ahead of crucial U.S. inflation data later in the day that should guide the path for interest rates.

Meanwhile, the yuan edged further from a onemonth trough after the People39;s Bank of China again set a strongerthanexpected midpoint guidance rate in a sign of displeasure at recent weakness. That helped lift the Australian and New Zealand dollars from near twomonth lows.

The dollar rose as high as 144.08 yen for the first time since July 7 as markets took the view that the Bank of Japan will be slow to exit stimulus, even with traders mostly betting the Fed is done with rate hikes.

A rise in crude oil to the highest since January also weighed on Japan39;s currency, because the resourcepoor nation is a major oil importer.

The fact that energy prices have risen for almost seven weeks, that39;s certainly weighed on the yen, said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.

A break above 145 would open the way potentially to 148 if we get the U.S. dollar flexing again after the CPI, he said.

Despite the BOJ39;s decision to relax its control of longterm yields at the end of last month, policymakers have stressed the change was a technical tweak aimed at extending the shelf life of stimulus, chiefly defined by the negative shortterm interest rate.

Weak Japanese labour cash earnings data earlier this week has increased our…