Yen choppy on intervention jitters; Asia shares eye weekly gain

SINGAPORE, July 12 (Reuters) - The yen swung between losses and gains on Friday in volatile trade, reflecting investors' skittishness after Tokyo was thought to have intervened to prop up the Japanese currency in the wake of a cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation report.

Moves in the yen against the dollar and other major currencies stole the spotlight on Friday, though in the broader market Asian stocks were headed for a weekly gain on growing bets for a September rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

S&P 500 futures edged 0.06% lower, while Nasdaq futures fell 0.24% and EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.08%.

The dollar was last 0.14% higher at 159.10 yen , after rising more than 0.3% to an intraday high of 159.45 yen and falling 0.7% to a low of 157.75 yen in early trading on Friday.

Moves were similarly choppy in the other yen crosses though subsided over the course of the trading day, with the euro last 0.16% higher against the yen and sterling up 0.2%, both reversing early losses.

"It's either one of two things - the market's either jumping at shadows this morning waiting for a second round of intervention, and I think now that the (Bank of Japan) has committed again, there's good reason for them to come back," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.

"The second thought is the market's just really skittish."

Speculation is rife that Japanese authorities had likely intervened in the currency market to shore up the yen on Thursday, after it surged nearly 3% against the dollar at one point after the release of t...
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