TOKYO: The yen rose sharply on Friday after Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said the currency's fall over the past week was too rapid, in one of the strongest warnings against a weak yen since Japan started its aggressive monetary stimulus two years ago.
The dollar rallied to 117.355 per dollar from around 118.00 yen before his comments, extending it recovery from a seven-year low of 118.98 struck on Thursday.
The yen last traded at 117.70 per dollar.
The yen also made ground against the euro, recovering to 147.72 yen per euro, coming back from a six-year low of 149.12 hit on Thursday. Aso also said rapid currency moves, whether up or down, were undesirable, speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting on Friday.
His comments triggered profit-taking on yen-selling positions that had built up after the Bank of Japan's easing late last month and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to delay a planned tax hike and call a snap election.
The dollar has climbed almost 10 yen since the Bank of Japan sprang its surprise easing in late October.
Many market players, however, see a rebound in the yen as a short-term correction, and do not expect a change in Abe's policy to stimulate growth through massive monetary easing.
"Although the market reacted to Mr. Aso's comments, I don't think it would have lasting impact on the yen," said Kosuke Hanao, head of FX at HSBC in Tokyo. "Market players had predicted that some kind of correction was inevitable any way before Japan's long weekend and the US Thanksgiving week." Monday is a labour day public holiday in Japan.
The market mood remains bullish on the dollar also given the outperformance of the US economy. Figures out of the United States on Thursday was generally upbeat, led by a stunning jump in the Philadelphia Fed survey of manufacturing which soared to its highest since 1993.
Inflation also surprised on the upside, with the core consumer price index nudging up to 1.8 percent for the year.
That should be a welcome development for many at the Federal Reserve who have been worried that inflation could stay too low for too long.
In contrast, data out of Europe was mostly weak with manufacturing surveys missing forecasts across the continent.
The divergence in economic fortunes saw the euro ease back to $1.2565 and away from the week's high of $1.2599.
The data cupboard is bare for Friday but European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and Bundesbank head Jens Weidmann are both due to speak at the European Banking Congress in Frankfurt.
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