Japan central bank conducts 'rate check' as yen sinks

TOKYO, Sept 14 (AFP): Japan's central bank on Wednesday conducted an operation often seen as a precursor to currency intervention, local media said, as the yen continues to crater against a strengthening dollar.
The financial daily Nikkei and other local media said the Bank of Japan (BoJ) carried out a "rate check". A Bank spokesman contacted by AFP declined to comment.
A rate check involves asking market participants about their foreign exchange trading, said Toshikazu Horiuchi of IwaiCosmo Securities.
"Basically it's a warning, which is the next best thing to an intervention when the exchange rate is fluctuating," he told AFP.
The yen has tumbled from around 115 per dollar in March to lower than 140 in recent weeks.