Comments on Strong Yen Weaken Dollar Against It
The Japanese yen registered sharp gains Friday during a session in which activity in the dollar and many other currencies featured narrow ranges and little departure from the previous day's levels.</br></br>The catalyst for the yen's surge was comments from Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, who said in a Thursday evening meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that he opposed intentionally devaluing the yen or any other currency. Japan's currency cracked the psychologically important 90 yen barrier against the dollar, hitting to its highest intraday levels in more than seven months on the greenback.</br></br>The new Japanese finance minister's reluctance to control currency levels was taken as a strong suggestion that Tokyo wouldn't intervene even if the dollar sustains its fall below the 90 yen level, said Eisuke Sakakibara, a former top official at Japan's Finance Ministry.</br></br>Before recovering modestly, the dollar fell as far as 89.51 yen, its lowest level since early February. The yen also chalked up solid gains against other currencies, including the euro.</br></br>Late Friday in New York, the yen was trading at 89.85 yen from 91.22 yen a day earlier, while the euro fell to 131.81 yen from 133.69 yen. The euro against the dollar was at $1.4670 from $1.4656 late Thursday, and the U.K. pound was at $1.5930 from $1.6064. The dollar was at 1.0293 Swiss francs from 1.0300 francs.