Business News

TOKYO, (APP/AFP): The yen’s soaring rally took a breather in
Asian trading Monday after Japanese finance minister Taro Aso warned over the surge, vowing to take action “when necessary”.
The weekend remarks hinted at a possible market intervention in the
wake of the Bank of Japan’s shock policy decision last week that caused the yen to surge to an 18-month high against the dollar.
On Monday, the greenback edged up to 106.56 yen from 106.31 yen in
New York Friday, its lowest level since October 2014.
But the unit was still way down from above 111 yen before the BoJ
announcement.Japanese financial markets were closed Friday for a public
holiday.
The central bank caught markets off guard Thursday as it held off
another round of stimulus, confounding expectations it would act after a double earthquake and a string of weak data readings for the world’s number three economy.
“Our official target continues to be 103, but I personally think the
risk of breaking 100 can’t be ruled out, and in that case Japanese authorities are likely to move,” Tohru Sasaki, head of Japan markets research at JPMorgan, told Bloomberg news.
“If dollar-yen breaks 100, and even if Japanese authorities move,
probably that’s not enough to provide significant support” for the greenback, he said.
On Saturday, Aso said the yen’s rally was “extremely worrying”.
“The yen strengthened by five yen in two days.Obviously one-sided
and biased, so-called speculative moves are seen behind it,” Aso told reporters.
“Tokyo will continue watching the market trends carefully and take actions when necessary.”