TOKYO, April 15 Reuters The dollar rose to a twodecade peak against the yen and kept close to a twoyear high to the euro on Friday, as more hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials reinforced expectations for faster U.S. policy tightening.

The greenback was 0.43 higher at 126.40 yen after earlier reaching 126.56 for the first time since May 2002.

The euro slipped 0.14 to 1.0812, heading back toward the overnight low of 1.0785, a level unseen since April 2020.

New York Fed President John Williams said on Thursday that a halfpoint rate rise next month was a very reasonable option, in a further sign that even more cautious policymakers are on board with faster monetary tightening. 

By contrast, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said around the same time that there was no clear timeframe for when ECB rates would start to rise, adding that it could be weeks or even several months after the central bank winds down its stimulus scheme in the third quarter.

Williams spoke openly of the need to move rates more swiftly and above neutral, further buoying the dollar, Tim Riddell, a macro strategist at Westpac wrote in a client note.

By contrast, the ECB revealed a more dovish reaction function to the inflation news than the market had discounted, he said.

U.S. Treasury yields resumed their climb overnight, following a twoday decline, further buoying the greenback. Treasuries did not trade in Tokyo on Friday because of the Good Friday market holiday in…