intervention

During Friday’s Asian deals the Japanese unit tumbled around 12:15 am ET as Kyodo News cited an unidentified market source as saying that Japan sold its currency for the second time this month to curb the yen's rise.

In early European deals on Friday, the Japanese unit slumped across the board on speculation Japan may intervene again in the forex market to weaken the national currency further. The yen thus plummeted to a fresh 4-month low against the aussie, 2-day low against the kiwi and new multi-week lows against the euro, pound and the Canadian dollar. On the other hand, the yen showed choppy trading against the US dollar and Swiss franc today.

The Japanese unit revealed firmness in early Asian session today after slumping Wednesday as Japanese authorities have intervened in the currency market for the first time since early 2004 to delay the yen's rise.

In the equity front, the Japanese shares opened higher today. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index is currently trading at 9,544.81 - up 28.25 points or 0.3% over its previous close.

The Japanese unit plummeted across the board in early Asian deals on Wednesday as Japan intervened in the currency market for the first time since early 2004 to stem the yen's surge against the dollar that threatens a fragile economic recovery.

Central banks intervened in the foreign exchange market when they buy or sell currencies to influence exchange rates.