TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The dollar broke above 80 yen in Tokyo on Wednesday for the first time since early August, rising as high as 80.08 yen at one point, as the yen continued to weaken following recent monetary easing by the Bank of Japan. At 5 p.m., the dollar changed hands at 80.03-04 yen compared with 79.70-80 yen in New York and 79.79-80 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Tuesday. It fell as low as 79.68 yen during the day, changing hands most frequently at 80.04 yen. The euro was quoted at $1.3258-3259 and 106.11-15 yen, compared with $1.3230-3240 and 105.49-59 yen in New York and $1.3253-3254 and 105.75-79 yen in Tokyo late Tuesday afternoon. The dollar remained capped below the psychologically important 80 yen line all morning due to selling pressure from Japanese exporters, but it breached the line early in the afternoon to reach its highest level against the Japanese currency since Aug. 4, dealers said. ''Overseas fund managers, Japanese importers and interbank dealers all snapped up the dollar,'' amid rumors that even some Japanese exporters would buy back the dollar, said Yuji Saito, director of the foreign exchange department at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in Tokyo. He said underlying the yen's recent weakness is the BOJ's decision on Feb. 14 to implement additional steps to inject liquidity, including the expansion of its asset purchase program by 10 trillion yen, and its goal of achieving 1 percent inflation to overcome chronic deflation. With the recent strength of the yen, Japanese exporters have been eager to dump dollars for yen at a favorable rate to repatriate profits earned overseas. But having sold the U.S. currency amid its steady climb, the exporters now appear to be taking a wait-and-see stance, reducing dollar-selling pressure, Saito added. The euro moved little against the dollar in a dearth of fresh trading incentives as initial enthusiasm waned about the much-awaited agreement among eurozone countries on a second bailout package for Greece, dealers said. The single European currency rose against the yen, tracking the yen's weakness against the dollar and other currencies.

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