The dollar sharply extended its losses versus the yen to trade below 78 in late New York trading on Wednesday amid concerns over a nuclear crisis in Japan.
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Luc Novovitch | Getty Images |
The dollar [JPY=X 77.98 
0.32 (+0.41%) 
] hit as low as 77.60 yen on trading platform EBS. The previous record low was 79.75 yen set in April 1995.
Traders are nervously watching whether the Bank of Japan will intervene in the currency market to stem yen gains. A stronger currency makes Japanese exports less competitive and hurts the economy.
Officials scrambled Wednesday to contain the nuclear crisis in Japan with a variety of patchwork fixes. The head of the world's nuclear watchdog said while it was not accurate to say things were "out of control" in Japan, the situation was "very serious."
The yen has seen steady buying since last week's earthquake, as Japanese and international investors closed long positions in higher-yielding, riskier assets such as the Australian dollar, funded by cheap borrowing in the Japanese currency. Read more
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