Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Friday the administation is paying close attention to the currency market after the yen strengthened to levels where the Group of Seven industrialized economies conducted a joint intervention in March.
"We would like to closely watch developments in the foreign exchange and financial instrument markets," Noda told reporters after the yen advanced to 79.57 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday in overseas trading.
A stronger yen has negative implications for the export-led economy as it makes Japanese goods less competitive abroad. Tokyo stock prices fell sharply Friday. The dollar recouped part of its losses, trading mainly at the mid-¥80 level.