Yen back on weakening trend after surging on Japanese intervention

The yen was back on a weakening trend early Monday, trading in the 149 range versus the U.S. dollar, after surging late last week on intervention by the Japanese authorities aimed to lift the currency from a 32-year low.

The level early Monday compares with 146.20 immediately after the yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention conducted during Friday's trading in New York in the wake of the yen's plunge to 151.94, a level unseen since July 1990.

Although Japan's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda kept silent on whether Tokyo had made a fresh intervention like the one last month, sources close to the matter said Saturday that Tokyo intervened in the currency market again to stem the yen's slide.

The yen has been on a historic decline against the backdrop of a widening interest rate gap between Japan and the United States.

© Kyodo News