Yen sets 15-year-high against US dollar

The dollar fell to a fresh 15-year-low against the yen in Tokyo on Thursday amid growing speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy next month.

Dollar-selling accelerated in Asia following Singapore's surprise move to widen the trading band of the Singapore dollar. The island nation's central bank, known as the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said Thursday that it will continue with a "modest and gradual" appreciation of the Singapore dollar.

The move means that Singapore will let the local currency appreciate to cope with global market volatility. It sparked a rally in the Singapore dollar against the U.S. currency, according to The Associated Press.

The policy decision came as Singapore announced its economy shrank at a 19.8% annualized rate in the third quarter from the prior quarter.

Economists had expected the data would point to a period of softness following growth of 27.3% in the previous quarter, though the decline was steeper than the 17.5% contraction tipped in a Dow Jones Newswires poll, MarketWatch reports.