Yen strengthens sharply after dropping past 160 to the dollar

TOKYO -- The Japanese yen briefly dropped past 160 to the U.S. dollar on Monday morning, marking a fresh 34-year low against the greenback. The yen also fell past 171 per euro, an all-time low since the European currency was launched in 1999.

The Japanese currency's sharp depreciation increased market speculation that the Japanese government and BOJ would intervene in the foreign exchange market to buy the currency, though Japanese authorities have refrained from intervening for months while the yen has plummeted.