By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar edged higher against most other currencies Friday afternoon in Asia, climbing back above 85 yen after speculation that Japanese authorities might have intervened again in foreign exchange markets.
Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda declined comment on whether authorities intervened, according to reports.
“Large-lot selling orders” placed after 1 p.m. in Tokyo weakened the yen, and market players were betting that the Bank of Japan intervened in the currency market at the government’s request, Nikkei reported.
Following the reports, the dollar index (DXY 80.07, +0.06, +0.08%) edged up to 80.154 from 80.035 late Thursday in North American trading.
The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NI225 9,472, -94.65, -0.99%) also climbed, briefly rebounding from a more than one-week low of 9,415.96 to trade as high as 9,601.77, before moving 0.6% lower in recent trading.
Japanese monetary authorities had intervened in the currency market last week after the dollar dropped to a more-than-15-year low of ¥82.85. Read more about last week’s yen intervention.
Against the yen, the dollar (USDYEN 84.7100, +0.3200, +0.3792%) bought ¥85.16 in afternoon dealings, up from ¥84.37 late Thursday in North American trading. It tapped a high of ¥85.37 after the reports of yen intervention emerged.
Traders also attributed the yen’s sudden plunge to talk that Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa may resign, according to Reuters. Read more about the resignation speculation.
The euro (EURUSD 1.3330, +0.0018, +0.1352%) was at $1.3343 versus $1.3333 late Thursday while the Australian dollar (AUDUSD 0.9519, +0.0035, +0.3690%) bought 95.07 U.S. cents compared with 95.23 U.S. cents.
