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Japan sells yen
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April 3, 2000: 7:16 a.m. ET
Bank of Japan intervenes after survey shows more confidence in economy
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LONDON (CNNfn) - The Bank of Japan sold yen Monday in an effort to curb the currency's strength and bolster exports -- with the move coming just after the release of the "tanken" economic survey showing that big Japanese firms believe business conditions are improving.
The BOJ may have spent more than $10 billion on Monday to stem the surging yen starting from 103.30 yen, market sources said. The dollar rose to an interday high of 105.65 yen from 102.43 yen late Friday trading in New York and was last at 105.01 yen. The euro fell to 99.89 yen from 98.25 in late trading Friday.
 The move came in the midst of a government crisis, as Japanese Prime Minster Keizo Obuchi remained in a coma after suffering a stroke this weekend. It's not known if Obuchi will emerge from the coma or, if he does, whether he will continue in office. Traders said they didn't expect the situation to subdue the yen for long, adding that weren't looking for any additional economic policy moves from the Obuchi government.
The Japanese government feels the yen's strength will hurt exporters, since the rising price of goods in overseas markets make them less competitive. That, in turn, could lead to cheaper imports and hurt company earnings, reducing domestic share prices.
The BOJ started selling yen right after releasing the March tanken business confidence survey, which registered at minus 9, a touch better than the consensus forecast of minus 10 and up from minus 17 in the previous month.
The index is the difference between the percentage of companies reporting favorable business conditions and that saying conditions are unfavorable.
The head of the Finance Ministry's International Bureau, Zembei Mizoguchi, confirmed the BOJ's intervention. He said abrupt currency movements were undesirable, and that there had been no change in the ministry's policy of taking appropriate action in the currency market while watching market movements.
The dollar has been losing ground since last July, when it fell below 120 yen. It suffered its latest setback on Friday, tumbling to a three-month low of 102.03 yen in overseas markets.
Speculative yen buying grew once the euro fell below a psychologically significant support point of 100 yen. The European currency hit a lifetime low of 97.55 yen on Friday.
-- from staff and wire reports 
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