Forex - USD/JPY up on jobs data, intervention talk

Forexpros - The dollar rose against the yen Firday, bolstered by strong jobs data out of the U.S. coupled with sentiment that the Japanese government may take steps to halt its currency's strengthening trend.

USD/JPY hit 76.58 in U.S. trading on Friday, up 0.48% and up from a session low of 76.14 and off from a high of 76.74.

The pair sought to test support at 76.05, Thursday's low, and resistance at 76.78, Monday's high.

In the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy added a net 243,000 nonfarm payrolls in January, well above market expectations for a gain of 150,000.

The news doused expectations that the Federal Reserve would flood the financial system with fresh waves of liquidity via quantitative easing, which would weaken the greenback.

Furthermore, Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi has said the government might take steps to halt the yen's strengthening trend if needed.

A strong yen, made possible in part by low interest rates in the U.S., hurts Japan's vital export sector.

"Jawboning by the Japanese authorities has increased significantly over the past week," said Lee Hardman, a currency strategist in London at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., according to Bloomberg.

"We judge that the near-term risk of direct intervention is now high."

The yen, meanwhile, was down against the euro as well as the pound, with EUR/JPY gaining 0.53% to 100.70  and GBP/JPY also up 0.53% at 121.11.

On Sunday, Australia will release retail sales data.

On Monday, Swiss unemployment figures and inflation data are due out as are numbers on German factory orders.

In the U.S. on Monday, the Federal Budget Balance is due out as well.