The yen tumbled as Japan looked increasingly likely to intervene to weaken its currency, which had soared to a seven-month high against the dollar earlier this week.
Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi strongly hinted Friday that market intervention to tackle the strong yen may be imminent and urged the Bank of Japan to act, as the currency's strength increasingly threatens to worsen the country's economic slowdown.
The dollar traded ¥78.36 Friday afternoon in New York, up from ¥77.49 late Thursday, its strongest close since Feb. 8, and the seven-month low of ¥77.13 earlier that day. Traders with Citigroup said the dollar began to rise and the yen to fall Thursday after the Bank of Japan inquired with market participants about trading activity in the yen, a move known in the market as a rate check and which can serve as a final warning before an intervention. Japan last intervened in the market in October, when the dollar traded as low as ¥75.31.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444709004577650632272233176.html
TOKYO—A Japanese ruling-party heavyweight said the government must intervene in the currency markets if the yen's rise accelerates sharply, adding to the level of jawboning aimed at controlling the currency's moves and its impact on the economy.
"It will be imperative for [the government] to take steps such as intervention," if the yen surges to threaten Japan's export-reliant economy, Hirohisa Fujii, a former finance minister and current tax policy chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said in an interview Wednesday.
"I believe that the yen's current high levels are out of line with the real economy," he said
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303879604577407743768560590.html
