The dollar nosedived below ¥96.00 Monday for the first time in nearly 13 years as fears of a U.S. financial industry meltdown persist amid America's festering subprime mortgage loan crisis.
At 5 p.m., the greenback traded at ¥97.37-39 in Tokyo, down from ¥100.28-30 at 5 p.m. Friday. The dollar briefly dropped to ¥95.77, marking its lowest level since August 1995.
The yen's surge, which is expected to deal a blow to Japanese exporters, triggered a Monday selloff at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The 225-issue Nikkei average dropped below the 12,000-mark for the first time since Aug. 10, 2005. It closed down 454.09 points, or 3.71 percent, at 11,787.51.