He and in was trading at nearly four-week highs on Friday against the dollar, raising speculation about a possible intervention by Japanese authorities for the second consecutive day to shore up the currency.
The rally in the Japanese currency, which has been languishing around 38-year lows, began on Thursday, just after a drop in US consumer prices in June was reported, raising the chances that the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in September.
The move on Friday came after US producer prices rose moderately in June.
“They need to change tactics to keep the market on edge and show they are serious. It seems that yesterday was not a difficult time for them. So this may ensure that we close the week near the lows, which will put more technical pressure on the cross,” said James Malcolm, of UBS in London.
Bank of Japan daily trading data on Friday suggested the bank spent between 3.37 trillion yen and 3.57 trillion yen ($21.18 billion to $22 billion) buying its currency in the day before, less than three months after its last foray into the market.
The dollar fell 0.35% against its Japanese counterpart to 158.24 yen, after trading at 157.3, its lowest level since June 17.
The dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.14 percent at 104.19, near a one-month low of 104.07 touched on Thursday.
The euro was up 0.29 percent at $1.0896, after hitting a one-month high of $1.0902, while sterling gained 0.48 percent to its highest level of the year at $1.2971.
Source: Ambito
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