Japanese Action Halts Dollar’s Rise

The dollar was mixed Tuesday, falling from a 5-1/2-year high vs. the yen as Japan’s central bank reportedly stepped into the market to buy yen and traders worried about further intervention to halt the dollar’s ascent.

But the U.S. currency hit a second straight 4-month high against the mark after a German central bank official was quoted as saying the market, not officials, will determine the dollar’s movement vs. the mark.

The dollar peaked at 134.25 yen after jumping to record highs against the Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht.

But the Bank of Japan intervened around 134 yen, spending about $2 billion to drive the dollar down to 133.10 yen.

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .6985 1.4317 France .1632 6.1284 Germany .5460 1.8314 Great Britain 1.6268 .6147 Italy .000556 1799.00 Japan .007482 133.65 Mexico .124378 8.0400