The yen, which has gained 5.4% since the March 11 earthquake, has been supported by speculation that local insurers and investors are redeeming overseas assets to pay for damages and reconstruction.
"The Japanese have to repatriate yen and the repatriation will continue as the crisis deepens," said Kurt Magnus, executive director of currency sales at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Sydney. "My target is 72 on dollar-yen because of the technical breach of the 1995 low. There is no support because we've never been down here before."
Previous High
The yen's surge earlier helped it surpass the previous high of 79.75, reached in April 1995 in the wake of an earthquake that devastated the city of Kobe.
The dollar remained low after consumer prices in the U.S. increased 0.5%, the most since June 2009, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Excluding volatile food and fuel costs, the so-called core gauge rose 0.2% for a second month, also more than estimated.
Applications for jobless benefits decreased 16,000 in the period ended March 12 to 385,000, in line with the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, Labor Department figures showed today. The four-week average of claims dropped to the lowest level since July 2008.