Yen slips on stock rebound

The yen slipped from three-week highs against the dollar and euro on Friday as Asian shares rebounded sharply and Japan's finance minister warned about market swings, prompting investors to trim their bets on the Japanese currency. Tokyo's Nikkei share average erased earlier losses and climbed 2.7 percent as investors covered short positions on expectations of a Wall Street recovery after the S&P 500 index slumped on Thursday to its lowest point since 1997.
Traders were also wary of betting on the yen after Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said on Friday that the authorities must be ready to deal with big swings in markets. Worries about a steeper economic downturn and credit jitters grew as prospects for a rescue deal for the ailing US auto sector receded and shares of Citigroup Inc fell to levels not seen since 1994.
Given the strong fears of a deep global recession rippling through markets, investors believed that policy makers may take steps to restore market confidence, traders said. "Depending on developments in the US automakers rescue plan and at Citigroup, the currency market may show sharp movements. If the yen sharply appreciates, there is a possibility that the Japanese government may intervene in the market," said a trader at a Japanese bank.
Democratic congressional leaders demanded that US automaker executives provide a business survival plan in exchange for their support of up to $25 billion in loans.
Citigroup was reportedly considering selling parts of its company after its shares bank plunged below $5 on worries about whether it has enough capital to withstand potential losses. The dollar recovered from a three-week low of 93.55 yen struck the previous day, climbing to 94.82 yen, up 1.2 percent on the day. Market players in Tokyo refrained from active trading to avoid having their positions hurt by any surprises that may occur over Japan's long-weekend, traders said.
The euro rose 1.8 percent to 118.90 yen, above a three-week low of 116.45 yen hit on Thursday. The European single currency climbed 0.3 percent to $1.2535, staying above a 2-1/2 year low of $1.2329 hit in late October. There was little reaction to the Bank of Japan's decision to keep rates on hold at 0.30 percent. The move was widely expected as the BoJ has little room to lower rates more compared with other major central banks, which have been slashing interest rates to combat the deteriorating global economy and collapsing stock markets.