Yen's slide against greenback drives toward sixth consecutive week

The value of the monetary unit of Japan fell against the U.S. dollar on Friday as it hurtled toward its sixth weekly loss against the world's reserve currency, according to Bloomberg.

The Japanese yen suffered losses against each of its 16 counterpart currencies as demand for it slowed due to indications of development and growth in the U.S. economy and signs of additional stimulus by the central bank of the Pacific Rim nation.

"Signs of stability in the financial market and growth in the U.S. caused the yen to give back strong gains we saw in the second half of last year," currency strategist Lee Hardman with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in London told Bloomberg. "The prospects of further stimulus from the Bank of Japan could potentially be negative for the yen, also we are still skeptical as to the scope of what the central bank will do."

The six consecutive weeks of losses against the U.S. dollar by the yen mark the longest losing streak in 36 months.

Reuters reports the Nikkei steadied on Friday after having closed on Thursday at its highest level in eight months.