Dollar Falls Against Yen After Miyazawa, Sakakibara Hint of Intervention
Dollar Falls vs Yen Amid Concern Japan May Sell Dollars
Tokyo, Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell against the yen after Japanese officials warned that Japan may sell dollars to stem the yen's decline. ''Japan is ready to intervene in foreign exchange markets to prop up the yen if necessary,'' Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said at a regular press conference. ''Speculation for possible intervention intensified,'' said Hiroshi Sakuma, a foreign exchange manager at Barclays Bank Plc. ''I don't think the dollar will climb above 147 yen in coming weeks.''
The dollar was quoted at 145.55 yen, down from 146.07 yen in late New York trading yesterday. It was quoted at 1.7948 marks, down from 1.7955 marks in New York.
Miyazawa said he has been consulting with Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Eisuke Sakakibara, who recently said Japan is ''looking for opportunities'' to take action to combat the yen's slide. Sakakibara last Friday also said, ''the yen has hit bottom at around 147 to the dollar,'' and is poised for a rebound.
Haruhiko Kuroda, director general of the Finance Ministry's International Bureau, also repeated today that he is not content with the yen's current level, suggesting that the Bank of Japan may sell dollars if the yen continues to weaken against the dollar.
Japan last bought yen for dollars on June 17, the day after the dollar surged to a then eight-year high of 146.78 yen. The U.S. also bought yen, helping shave 13 yen off the dollar's value in following days. The U.S. currency has since regained almost all of those losses.
The dollar's decline was also accelerated after it fell to about 145.70 yen, triggering a series of automatic orders to sell dollars for yen, said Yasuji Yamanaka, a foreign exchange trader at Nikko Trust and Banking Co. Traders and investors who had expected the dollar to rise placed such orders to limit losses. -- Miki Anzai in the Tokyo newsroom (813) 3201-8363 with Keiko Kambara at the Finance Ministry /vv Story illustration: To graph the dollar's performance against the yen, see JYS GIP, GPO, GPC . To graph its performance against the deutsche mark, see DMS GIP, GPO, GPC . To graph its performance against the British pound, see BPS GIP, GPO, GPC . For Finex's dollar index, see DXY . Top news: NI TOP Market news: NI FRX currency NI GFX currency market N currency JPY CN yen DMS CN mark BPS CN British pound Regional News: Central bank news: NI JAPAN Japan NI BOJ Bank of Japan NI US U.S. NI FED Federal Reserve NI GER Germany NI BUBA Bundesbank NI UK U.K. NI CEN central bank NI ASIA Asia NI MOF Japan's Finance Ministry Other codes: Analytics: NI ECO economy FXC key cross currency rates NI JNECO Japan economy WCR world currency rates NI USECO U.S. economy WCRS currency percentage changes NI GEECO German economy WCV world currency values WECO economic statistics FRC FX/Interest Rate arbitrage FMOC Fed rate moves FRD Forward rates NI EMU Monetary Union TKC Exchange rates by region
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