The relentless gyration of the yen has made market players and policymakers nervous about what will come next, and what will happen under the successor to Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda. (Source photos by Kosuke Imamura and AFP/Jiji)

Higher foreign exchange volatility has Japan fretting about yen spike

A weak yen is bad for inflation, but a strong one is bad for stock market

MITSURU OBE, Nikkei Asia chief business news correspondent

August 8, 2022 06:00 JST

TOKYO -- It used to take several months at least for the dollar-yen exchange rate to move 10 yen. Nowadays, such a swing can happen within days.

In Tokyo, the dollar has skidded more than 6% from 139.18 yen on July 14 to 130.40 yen on Aug. 2. The pullback came after the dollar's 21% surge against the Japanese currency between March and July.