bank of japan

The yen climbed to a post-World War II high against the dollar yesterday, after Europe's debt crisis spurred demand for safe havens.

The yen has plunged against a basket of currencies after the Bank of Japan said the economy is in a perilous state.

Henderson's Bill McQuaker says the recent move by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to prevent the yen soaring against the dollar could feed through to equity markets if it is the start of a new trend.

Following a week when Japan was rocked by two more devastating earthquakes, Stephen Harker, GLG's star Japan fund manager, explains why he is at odds with optimists who expect the economy to bounce back later this year.

The Japanese economy is "under strong downward pressure" in the wake of the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) says.

Intervention by the G7 and Bank of Japan to stabilise the yen following the Japanese earthquake means the easy money had now been made trading the yen, says Insight's Dale Thomas.

VIEW FROM JAPAN

Rathbones' David Coombs is adding Japanese stocks to his portfolio in the view its economy will rebound quickly from the aftermath of last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Nomura predicts the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan will cut between 0.5% and 1% off the country's GDP next quarter.

Fund managers warn Japan could take a short-term hit to GDP following last week's earthquake and tsunami, but they are less concerned about the longer-term impact on the country's fragile economic recovery.