Japan ready to intervene again on the foreign exchange market

The Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda warned Tuesday that his government was ready to intervene again on the foreign exchange market to dampen the yen.

The dollar hit its lowest in three weeks versus the Japanese currency, exchanging around 1000 GMT to 82.31 yen.

This rise of the yen hurts Japanese companies that sell to the outside, diminishing profits earned abroad and distorting their financial forecasts.

The yen has appreciated in value throughout the year against the dollar and the euro, the currencies considered more at risk due to uncertain economic prospects of the United States and the euro area.

"In recent days, for about a week (...) we have seen a movement in one direction. I continue to monitor market movements until the end of the year and the beginning of the next year, "said the Japanese minister told reporters.

"There is no change in our position, which is to take firm action if we find excessive volatility"in the foreign exchange market, "he added.

The Japanese government, with support from the Central Bank of Japan (BoJ) had already sold en masse on September 15 yen markets from Tokyo, London and New York. The Japanese currency had just experienced an unprecedented new high in 15 years against the dollar, and was about a nine-year-old record vis-à-vis the euro.