TOKYO: The dollar was weaker against the yen in Asian trade Wednesday after the US Treasury criticised Japanese interventions aimed at stemming the rise of the unit over the past six months.
The dollar stood at 77.82 yen, slightly lower than 77.88 in New York late Tuesday.
The euro was almost flat at $1.3069 and 101.70 yen, compared with $1.3070 and 101.77 yen in New York.
In a report to the US Congress on foreign exchange markets, the Treasury said Japan's interventions were unnecessary and that Tokyo would do better to strengthen its domestic economy and competitiveness.
The Treasury however said it had supported interventions to stabilise the yen in the wake of the devastating March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster.
But interventions that began in August and went through November, aimed at halting the yen's rise amid economic turmoil in Europe and the United States, were unjustified, the Treasury said.
"Some investors sold the pair taking a cue from the US Treasury forex report to Congress," Citibank Japan chief strategist Osamu Takashima told Dow Jones Newswires.
"A part of the reason why some overseas hedge funds were buying the pair earlier was they were trying to take profit on any Japan intervention in the future," Takashima said.
"But now that chances have decreased, it's possible they may sell the pair more actively."
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