Yen falls to 161 against U.S. dollar; Japan replaces top currency diplomat
The yen fell to a new low against the dollar at 161 as Japan replaced its top currency diplomat.
June 28 (UPI) -- The Japanese yen continued its fall on Friday, stumbling to a new 38-year low against the U.S. dollar of 161, leaving Tokyo leaders searching for answers on how to stabilize their currency.
The yen also slid to its worst numbers against the euro since the European currency was rolled out in 1999 at 172.
The yen has not fallen to such depths since 1986 and has struggled to find its footing since the Bank of Japan stopped its negative interest rate policy in March.
In the middle of the turmoil, Japan reportedly replaced its lead currency diplomat Masato Kanda with Atsushi Mimura and removed its vice finance minister Eiji Chatani in favor of Hirotsugu Shinkawa. Mimura had been serving as the finance ministry's international bureau director general.
"To be very honest, actually, I don't think that the Japanese authorities can do a lot about [the] yen, and the market has shown that," Dong Chen, chief Asia strategist and head of Asia research at Swiss private bank Pichet, told CNBC.
"Because despite all the verbal interventions, or actual interventions that Japan ministry of finance has done over the past, they didn't manage to stop the slide of [the] yen."
The Nikkei Stock Average ticked up, closing Friday 241.54 points ahead of the day before to 39,583.08, a boost of 0.61%.
The release inflation data from the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge, the personal consumptions expenditures price index.