SINGAPORE, March 18, 2011 (AFP) - The yen weakened against the greenback and euro in Asia on Friday after Japan and its G7 partners agreed to a joint intervention to stabilise foreign exchange markets.
The US dollar jumped to 81.71 yen in the afternoon, from 78.95 in late US trade Thursday, while the euro bought 114.91 yen from 110.67.
The European currency edged up to $1.4066 from $1.4014.
The yen fell after the G7 issued the statement following emergency morning talks, said Robert Ryan, a foreign exchange strategist for BNP Paribas in Singapore.
"They will intervene to sell yen by the dollar, and as they were announcing that the BoJ (Bank of Japan) came in to buy dollar-yen," he added.
The move released more yen into the foreign exchange market, weakening the currency and relieving Japan's key export industry, which is hurt by a stronger unit as it makes their goods more expensive.
The yen had soared since a massive earthquake and tsunami slammed into Japan last Friday, with the currency hitting a post World War II peak against the greenback on Thursday amid a crisis at a quake-hit nuclear power plant.
The BoJ earlier Friday also said it would inject another three trillion yen into the country's markets to soothe confidence and ensure financial institutions in disaster-hit regions do not run out of cash.
A total of 37 trillion yen has now been released by the bank this week in a bid to stabilise the shell-shocked economy.
Against other Asian currencies, the greenback fell to Sg$1.2735 from Sg$1.2816 on Thursday, to 8,770.00 Indonesian rupiah from 8,788.00, to 43.72 Philippine pesos from 43.99 and to 1,126.75 South Korean won from 1,135.6.
It gained to Tw$29.59 from Tw$29.57 and remained unchanged against the Thai baht at 30.34.
