TW: Dollar leaps vs yen after Bank of Japan sells yen
The dollar is rising sharply against the Japanese yen after the Bank of Japan weakened the yen to help Japanese exporters.
The Bank of Japan says it sold yen and bought dollars during Tokyo trading Monday in order to pull the yen down from a post-World War II high against the dollar. The super-strong yen was hurting Japanese exporters by making their goods more expensive for overseas customers.
Traders have been buying yen because it is seen as a safe place to store cash. Its biggest rivals, the euro and the U.S. dollar, have been less stable in recent months because of the European debt crisis and the uncertain U.S. economy.
