Japan's Yen at Lowest Against US Dollar Since 1998, Stocks Crumble - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The national currency of Japan, the yen, has tumbled to its lowest against the US dollar since October 1998 and was trading at 135.2 per $1 on Monday, while stocks are crumbling on anticipation of monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve spurred by inflation, Japanese media reported.

The yen accelerated its fall to 135.2 per the US dollar on expectations of a further widening of the interest rate gap between Japan and the US, the Kyodo news agency said.

The US dollar was floating between 134.90 and 134.93 yen as of 3 p.m. Tokyo time (06:00 GMT) compared to 133.59-134.45 yen on Friday.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average has crumbled by 836.85 points to 26,987.44 since Friday, losing just over 3%, while the Topix index lost some 2.16%, or 42.03 points, and averaged 1,901.06 over the same period, the report said.

Heavy machinery, electronics, and transportation equipment were among the industries in which stocks were showing the highest decline.

Inflation in the US gained growth in recent weeks, with fuel and food price soaring the most. On Sunday, US President Joe Biden said that this was the "byproduct" of helping Ukraine to fight Russia.

Economic analysts expect the US Federal Reserve to continue tightening the country's monetary policy throughout the summer and fall.