Summary The yen ended the day against dollar at the highest level in more than 17 months.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Tokyo s criticism of the yen s surge momentarily pushed it lower, but then the Japanese currency brushed off the jawboning to continued its rise late Friday.
Warnings by spokesman Yoshihide Suga that the government will take action if the yen keeps strengthening appeared to have an impact: the currency slipped back to 109 yen per dollar after having threatened to move below 108 on Thursday.
Suga said that the yen s strong rise in recent weeks, which has threatened to hurt Japanese exports, was "one-sided," adding that "excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates can have adverse implications."
"The government is monitoring the foreign exchange market closely. Depending on the situation, we will take necessary action," he said.
But hours later the currency reversed course to end the day at 108.10 yen per dollar, the highest level in more than 17 months.
The yen did move weaken slightly against the euro, to 123.21 versus 123.17, but with little news to support moves into the dollar or euro, the yen s gains did not look under threat.
"Although the surging yen has raised speculation that the Bank of Japan may soon intervene to weaken its currency, skepticism remains over the efficacy of the central bank s attempts to do so, especially in light of its recent easing into negative interest rate territory, which had no lasting impact on restraining yen appreciation," James Chen of Forex.com said in a market analysis.
The euro added ground on the dollar as well, pushing almost to the $1.14 level.
