Yen continues climb despite efforts to talk it down

[NEW YORK] The yen continued its march higher Thursday despite efforts to slow the trend and worries of an impact on Japanese exporters.

The yen pushed to as high as 107.68 per dollar before settling back to 108.31, for a 1.3 per cent gain for the day. It was the highest level for the Japanese currency in more than 17 months.

Against the euro the yen climbed about 1.6 per cent to 123.17, just shy of the three-year high set in March.

It came despite more efforts by Japanese officials to stem the gains. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the government was vigilantly watching the currency's movements, Bloomberg reported.

But traders shrugged that off amid market conclusions that monetary policymakers in both the US and Europe remained dovish and the US rate hikes were likely several months off.

"Alarms should be ringing at the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Japan because the five per cent (yen) appreciation spells big trouble for Japan's businesses and economy," said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.

"However, everything that we have heard from the Japanese government so far suggests that they are not ready to intervene."

AFP