The yen sat on the stronger side of 150 per dollar on Wednesday, after an unexpected surge in the previous session stoked speculation that Japanese authorities could have intervened to support the currency.

The Japanese currency was last marginally lower at 149.17 per dollar in early Asia trade, after having jumped nearly 2% at one point on Tuesday to a high of 147.30 - a move that came after the yen tumbled to 150.165 per dollar, its weakest since October 2022.

Japanese authorities last year intervened to prop up the yen for the first time since 1998.

Other currencies similarly fell against the yen in the previous session, with the euro losing more than 1.5% to a low of 154.39 yen. It recovered some of those losses and last bought 156.18 yen .

The Aussie stood at 94.03 yen , after having fallen to an over one-month low of 93.16 yen on Tuesday.

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Wednesday that currency rates should be set by the market, while adding his usual mantra that stability was important and that rapid moves were undesirable.

The country's top currency diplomat, Masato Kanda, also said the same day he would not comment on whether Tokyo intervened in the exchange-rate market overnight, though he said that "we have only taken steps that have the understanding of U.S. authorities".

Elsewhere, the New Zealand dollar fell after its central bank held the cash rate steady at 5.5% and reiterated that past tightening had helped constrain spending and temper inflation as required.

The kiwi slid roughly 0.4% to a three-week low of $0.5883.

In the broader currency market, the dollar charged higher on the back of upbeat data on Tuesday showing U.S. job openings unexpectedly increased in August amid a surge in demand for workers in the professional and business services sector.

That sent the greenback to a near 11-month high of 107.34 against a basket of currencies , with the dollar index last at 107.07.

Sterling edged 0.02% lower to $1.2076, languishing near the previous session's close to seven-month low of $1.20535.

The euro similarly bottomed at $1.0448 on Tuesday, its lowest since December, and was last at $1.0470.

The Australian dollar rose 0.06% to $0.6305, having slid nearly 1% on Tuesday after the country's central bank held interest rates steady for a fourth month and showed no urgency to hike again.

Source : Reuters