See-saw in yen value trends continues as risk aversion drops

Japan's yen dropped suddenly after hitting new record highs in the wake of a second earthquake, though, this one did not cause significant damage to the already battered country.

The downturn was likely caused by a general relaxation of the market and a decrease in risk aversion, causing the yen - which, along with the Swiss franc, is generally considered a so-called "safe haven" currency - to lose value as foreign exchange traders looked elsewhere.

Andrew Wilkinson, an analyst with Interactive Brokers' Group, said the aftershocks and an announcement that the country's nuclear crisis was being considered among the most serious in history were more or less water under the bridge to investors.

"The shocking events of the last 24 hours have been discounted by investors, so the sticker-shock value that kept the yen strong is gone," he told the news agency in an interview.

Despite the positive news for the yen - the country's economy should be aided by a less expensive currency, given the enormous spending that will soon take place on reconstruction projects - the dollar stayed low, Bloomberg reported.