Against Japan’s currency, the dollar /quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled USDJPY -0.0620% fell as low as ¥75.94 yen, according to FactSet Research, surpassing the previous post World War II record of ¥76.25 set after Japan’s March earthquake.
It recently traded at ¥76.37, down from ¥76.56 in late North American trading Thursday. Read about falling dollar.
The yen remains a strong currency, despite shocks to the Japanese economy. Both the Japanese and the Swiss are fighting to keep their currency from becoming too strong. Photo: AFP/Getty Images
Analysts have noted for days the possibility of intervention, while Japanese officials have said they’re watching the market closely but seemed unwilling to act.
Even on Friday, Japan’s Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said that the government would start considering what long-term preparations are needed to contend with the yen if it gets stuck at its currently high levels, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
“The market is waiting to see if the Bank of Japan describes this as a ‘disorderly’ move,” said Dean Popplewell, chief currency strategist at Oanda Corp. “They cannot intervene when the markets are closed; that being said, they will be concerned about the yen grinding higher.”
This week, the dollar remained down 0.4% against the yen.
While generally uncommon among major, developed countries, both Japan and Switzerland intervened in recent weeks to put the brakes on their currencies’ gains. Both are major exporters and a stronger currency makes their goods less competitive.
After the disastrous earthquake, tsunami and nuclear-reactor crisis in Japan in March, central banks around the world coordinated an intervention to stem the yen’s gains.
That was effective in boosting the dollar back over ¥85 in the following weeks. But the greenback has gone back down as much as 11% since then. For 2011, the dollar has lost 5.9% against the yen.
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Deborah Levine is a MarketWatch reporter, based in New York. 
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