(Update 3) Yen Fluctuates Wildly; BOJ Intervention Suspected

   Sydney/Singapore/Tokyo/New York, April 29 (Jiji Press)--The yen swung up and down wildly against the dollar Monday, prompting some strategists to suspect that Japanese authorities had intervened in the market to stem a slide in their battered currency.
   In the day's Asian trading, the dollar briefly surged above 160 yen for the first time since April 1990, before diving below 155 yen. In New York trading at 9 a.m., the U.S. currency stood at 156.40-50 yen, down by 1.92 yen from 5 p.m. Friday.
   "It's difficult to overlook the negative impact that the violent and unusual (exchange rate) fluctuations caused by speculation have on the national economy," Japanese Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Masato Kanda told reporters in Tokyo Monday evening.
   "We hope to continue to respond appropriately as needed," Kanda said, while noting that he cannot say whether the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan carried out a market intervention.
   A major Japanese bank official said, "Considering the size of the yen's rise, chances are high that an intervention took place." Meanwhile, some others said there may have been purchases of the yen aimed at prompting Japanese authorities to step into the market when currency trading was thinned by a national holiday in Japan on Monday.

(2024/04/30-00:48)

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