(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar strengthened against other major currencies in Asian trading on Thursday after Japan's ministry of finance intervened the yen in the currency market to curb its rise.
Japan's finance minister Yoshihiko Noda told that "this is a unilateral intervention" by Japan.
"One-sided rises in the yen have recently been continuing in the foreign exchange market," Noda said "If this movement continues, it would have adverse effects on the stability of Japan's economy and financial conditions at a time when Japan is making various efforts to recover from the (March 11) disaster."
However, Noda declined to disclose the amount of yen sold by the authorities so far in an attempt to weaken the currency.
Today's action came after the yen jumped to a fresh record high of 78.30 per dollar early this week.
Japan last intervened on March 18, joining its Group of Seven counterparts in selling yen the day after it rose a record high of 76.31 against the dollar in the aftermath of deadly earthquake that struck Japan on March 11.
The Swiss National Bank surprised markets yesterday by narrowing the three-month Libor target range to 0.00- 0.25 percent from 0.00 - 0.75 percent, in an effort to curb the franc's surge.
The franc jumped to fresh record peaks against the dollar, pound and the euro this week.
The central bank considered the Swiss franc to be massively overvalued at present and the strength in the franc is threatening the development of the economy and increasing the downside risks to price stability in Switzerland.
The central bank also warned that it will take further measures against the strength of the Swiss franc if necessary.
The US dollar is trading at a 3-week high of 0.9666 against the Canadian dollar with 0.970 seen as the next upside target level. At yesterday's close, the greenback-loonie pair was quoted at 0.9620.
Against the Australian dollar, the US dollar is trading at a 16-day high of 1.0656, compared to yesterday's close of 1.0759. The next upside target level for the greenback is seen at 1.060.
The US dollar is trading at a 16-day high of 0.8500 against the New Zealand dollar. If the greenback gains further, it will target the 0.845 level. The kiwi-greenback pair was quoted at 0.8641.
Statistics New Zealand said early in the day that the seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 6.5 percent in the June quarter, unchanged from the March quarter. However, the number of employed persons increased by 1,000 from the March quarter, while the number of unemployed persons stood at 154,000.
