The dollar tumbled to a 14-year low against the yen on Thursday and struck a 1-1/2 year low on the Swiss franc, extending its broad slide on ultra-low US interest rates, even as Japan signalled it had no plans to step in to stem the yen's rise.
Japanese deputy finance minister Yoshihiko Noda told Reuters recent currency moves reflected dollar weakness and Japan wasn't considering intervening now, and Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said the move was at the stage where they should watch.
Traders have been doubting Japanese authorities, once known for their heavy dollar-buying interventions, would step in at this stage to break the fall because the dollar's drop was against a range of currencies, and the yen's trade-weighted gains have not been so sharp.
The yen's climb against the dollar this year has been painful for the country's big exporters and has hurt their earnings, one of the main reasons why Japanese shares have lagged the gains in other major markets. But Japan has stayed away from intervention for more than six years, and officials have repeatedly expressed a reluctance to do so.
Many officials around the world have expressed consternation and worry about the dollar's woes, and US officials have tried but failed to reassure investors they believe in a stronger currency. The dollar's drop came as short-term speculators and model-based funds sold to trip automatic sell orders, trying to take advantage of thinner market liquidity during the US Thanksgiving holiday.
The dollar index, a barometer of its performance against six major currencies, also hit a 15-month low. The dollar tumbled to just above 0.9900 Swiss francs on EBS, hitting its lowest since April 2008 before pulling back to 0.9950 francs.
The franc rose as high as 1.5012 per euro, its strongest since June, before edging back down to 1.5040 per euro, with the market nervous that any further strength might prompt the Swiss National Bank to intervene to curb its rise. The euro slipped 0.2 percent to $1.5105 after rising more than 1 percent on Wednesday and hitting a 15-month high of $1.5145 on EBS.
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