The Japanese yen hit a near-38 year low against the U.S. dollar late Wednesday, raising expectations that authorities could intervene in currency markets again. The yen weakened to 160.82 against the greenback according to FactSet data, breaching the previous record of 160.03 on April 29 and reaching its weakest level since 1986. The last time the yen crossed the 160 level, the currency subsequently strengthened sharply during the trading session, prompting analysts to speculate about an intervention. Japan’s Ministry of Finance later confirmed the intervention in May, saying that it had spent 9.7885 trillion yen ... (full story)