The yen fell on Wednesday as the Australian dollar surged on faster-than-expected growth in Australia's economy and a moderate rebound in China's manufacturing sector. The yen extended losses slightly after Japanese ruling party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, challenging Prime Minister Naoto Kan in a party leadership vote, said he would implement steps including intervention if the yen rose sharply.
The Australian dollar rose 1 percent to 75.85 yen and the greenback edged up 0.3 percent to 84.40 yen. In addition to the fastest growth in three years for Australian second-quarter GDP, talk of dollar buying by Japanese investors at levels near 84.00 yen also helped push the yen lower. The dollar/yen hit the day's high of 84.58 yen after Ozawa called for measures including intervention to cope with the yen's rise, exactly at a time when market players are focusing on whether Japan will intervene to stem the yen's appreciation.
The yen has shrugged off this week's monetary easing by the Bank of Japan and is still hovering near a 15-year peak against the dollar of 83.58 yen hit on trading platform EBS last week. Many traders and analysts believe the dollar's drop against the yen would have to turn much more volatile or deeper for Japanese authorities to take action.
A sharp drop in dollar/yen, such as 1 to 2 percent or more in a single day towards the 80 yen level and below, is seen as the most likely scenario that would prompt Japan to stick its neck out and buy dollars. The euro rose 0.5 percent against the yen to 107.25 yen, pulling away from a nine-year low of 105.44 yen hit on trading platform EBS last week.
The Bank of Japan decided on Monday to expand its fixed-rate fund supply scheme to 30 trillion yen from 20 trillion yen, and to launch a new six-month loan operation. The euro edged up 0.2 percent against the dollar to $1.2710.
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