Investors have been eager to park their funds into safe-haven liquid assets lately, especially after the ECB said its balance sheet soared to an all-time high.

But the choice of safe havens has been limited, with the US dollar, Swisse and the yen the only prime candidates. Previously investors buying yen for diversification purposes were doing so with extreme caution (and probably indigestion) since BoJ intervention fears were always the prime concern.

But yesterday those fears were alleviated after the US Treasury department chastised Japan for artificially weakening its currency on two occasions after the G7 intervention. The criticism gave investors the confidence to buy the yen, which continued to strengthen today. USD/JPY declined 0.3% to ¥77.9276 this afternoon.