The yen was trading in the upper 148 zone against the U.S. dollar early Tuesday in Tokyo, with its downside capped by fears of a possible yen-buying intervention by Japanese monetary authorities.
At 9 a.m., the dollar fetched 148.88-89 yen compared with 148.98-149.08 yen in New York and 149.25-27 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Monday.
The euro was quoted at $0.9883-9887 and 147.14-21 yen against $0.9869-9879 and 147.18-28 yen in New York and $0.9834-9835 and 146.78-82 yen in Tokyo late Monday afternoon.
Tokyo stocks opened higher, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street amid expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will slow its pace of interest rate hikes in December.
In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 167.82 points, or 0.62 percent, from Monday to 27,142.72. The broader Topix index was up 13.88 points, or 0.74 percent, at 1,901.07.
On the top-tier Prime Market, gainers were led by rubber product, electric appliance and precision instrument issues.
