Dollar Briefly Dives below 153 Yen amid Wariness over Intervention

Singapore, Feb. 11 (Jiji Press)--The dollar briefly dived below 153 yen in Asian trading on Wednesday amid wariness over possible yen-buying intervention by Japanese authorities.

Dollar selling continued from overnight New York trading, when data suggesting a U.S. economic slowdown was released.

The greenback was also under pressure after White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said in a Monday television interview that U.S. employment growth may slow in the coming months due to population decline and improved productivity.

The Tokyo market is closed Wednesday for a national holiday.

Following the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's landslide victory in Sunday's general election in Japan, the yen initially came under selling on Monday, but it has since been rallying as traders are concerned that Japanese authorities could intervene in the currency market.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]