The dollar's sharp slide to 13-year lows against the yen
and fresh all-time lows versus the euro on Monday is stoking
jitters about the possibility of joint central bank intervention
to prop up the dollar.
"The speed of the slide in the dollar/yen is so rapid
that U.S. action alone can no longer stop the dollar's downward
trend," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at
Daiwa SB Investment.
"The time is ripe for coordinated intervention by U.S.,
European and Japanese authorities."
Remarks on Monday by Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro
Nukaga also kept investors on their toes.
"We will cooperate with European and U.S. currency authorities
and will monitor markets very carefully," Nukaga told
reporters, adding that the latest moves in currency markets
had been excessively volatile and that he would watch markets
carefully.
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Nukaga's comments gave a slight lift to the dollar, which
last traded near 97 yen after earlier dropping by over 3 percent
to a 13-year low of 95.77 yen on electronic trading platform
EBS.
"His comments were different from usual so that led
to some speculation about joint intervention," said Hiroshi
Yoshida, a forex manager at Shinkin Central Bank.
Yoshida said, however, that while some traders thought coordinated
intervention was a possibility, there weren't many who believed
that the chances of such action were high.
Full
article here.