The yen appreciated to the upper 152 range against the U.S. dollar on Friday in Asian trading, reaching that level for the first time in nearly three weeks, as the currency strengthens in the wake of two suspected interventions by Japanese authorities.
The yen temporarily advanced to around 152.83 in the morning before hovering around the 153 line. Tokyo markets were closed Friday for a national holiday.
The U.S. currency traded at 153.61-71 yen in New York at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The yen weakened to the lower 160 range on Monday, a level unseen over the past 34 years, after the Bank of Japan left its monetary policy unchanged at a meeting late last week.
But the yen soon rebounded sharply, prompting market participants to speculate the Japanese government and the BOJ stepped into the market to buy the yen for the dollar.
A similar sudden appreciation of the yen was also seen in the early hours of Thursday, pushing the currency to 153.00 and stirring further belief that the authorities intervened again.
