Intervention warnings send yen to 2-week low

London

THE yen fell sharply to its lowest in almost two weeks against the US dollar on Tuesday following a slew of warnings by Japan that it was prepared to step in to weaken the currency.

The US dollar rose 0.9 per cent to a 12-day high of 109.26 yen , after surging more than one per cent on Monday. The US currency tumbled to an 18-month low of 105.55 yen last week after the Bank of Japan stood pat on monetary policy. Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Monday that Tokyo was ready to intervene to weaken the currency if moves were volatile enough to hurt the country's trade and economy. He reiterated that message on Tuesday.