Japanese yen rises sharply against US dollar amid warnings of further intervention

TOKYO -- The Japanese currency briefly surged to the lower 155 yen range against the US dollar on Monday morning after Japan confirmed joint currency market intervention with the US and warned of further intervention.

At noon, the US dollar was trading at 156.46-47 yen after briefly hitting 155.20 yen, compared with 157.33-43 yen in New York and 160.20-22 yen in Tokyo at 5 pm local time Friday.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama released a statement on Monday confirming that the ministry has conducted coordinated yen buying with the US Department of the Treasury late last week, noting the action was taken to counter excessive yen volatility in recent months.

The yen-buying operations from Thursday night through Saturday morning, Japan time, marked the first coordinated market intervention by Tokyo and Washington since 2011, when the yen surged following the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Katayama said both countries "will not hesitate to conduct a further joint intervention."

Tokyo stocks fell sharply on Monday morning, with the Nikkei index briefly plunging over 2 percent, amid concern that the surging yen could disrupt companies' business outlooks.