Japanese authorities are relying heavily on psychological tactics to fight yen bears, which means keeping markets guessing about their foreign exchange intervention rather than overt attempts to arrest the currency¡¯s decline to multidecade lows.

The battered yen has whipsawed in recent weeks, which analysts and traders attribute to government efforts to prop up the currency against a relentlessly strong dollar, amid worries about the negative economic impact of sharp yen declines.

The yen was trading in the ?149 level to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.