Early trade in New York: Yen retreats from record high

Fear that Japan may soon intervene to weaken the yen after it hit a record high against the dollar left currency traders skittish on Thursday, and the market may start trimming yen longs as a G7 meeting nears. The dollar hit a record low of 76.25 yen as Asian trading began after a break of 79.75 triggered a cascade of automatic "sell" orders. The dollar bounced back to 78.90 yen and has remained in a fairly tight range.
Elsewhere, the euro hit a 2011 high of $1.4052 after solid demand at a Spanish bond auction and on the view that eurozone interest rates were likely to rise soon. It was last up 0.9 percent at $1.4015. The dollar also fell to a record low of 0.8852 Swiss francs before bouncing back above 0.90 francs.