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NEW YORKLONDON June 21 Reuters The Japanese yen plunged against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday to its lowest since October 1998, as the Bank of Japan39;s ultraloose monetary policy was in stark contrast to an aggressive Federal Reserve determined to stamp out soaring inflation.

The yen dropped to a new 24year low of 136.455 per dollar , extending losses which have already seen it shed more than 18 of its value versus the greenback this year.

Colin Asher, senior economist at Mizuho said yen moves appeared mainly flowdriven.

The dollar broke through the old high at 135.60 yen and triggered stops taking it through the big figure at 136.0 and beyond, Asher noted.

The rationale is the same as last week and the week before and the week before The BoJ will be the last of the G10 to hike, the Fed is accelerating the pace, and there is a wider yield spread, he added.

The yen lost more ground after the BoJ on Friday dashed any expectations of a change in policy and continued to stand alone among other major central banks in its commitment to ultraeasy monetary settings.

Instead it has been ramping up bondbuying to hold 10year yields in a targeted 0 to 0.25 range. But despite its efforts, the yield remains at the upper end of that target

Earlier in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida…