The Japanese yen ended Friday with gains as risk aversion attracted investors to the perceived safety of the currency, allowing the yen to move away from multi-year lows that it has reached recently.

Ben Bernanke may be daring investors to buy stocks, but this attempt at encouraging an investment in risk assets doesn’t seem to be working out today. Risk aversion has set in, and the US dollar is higher, and risk assets are lower.

The Japanese yen climbed today, posting the biggest gain against the euro in five weeks, as Chinese manufacturing and speculations about the future monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve made investors nervous and unwilling to risk.

The US dollar was volatile today as Forex market participants were trying to interpret the words of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and to guess whether the central bank will remove stimulus.

The US dollar fell against the euro today on speculations that the Federal Reserve will maintain its stimulus program. The currency edged higher versus the Great Britain pound and the Japanese yen.

Japanese yen is mostly lower today, following an earlier rally. Comments from a government official sent the yen a little higher against its major counterparts, but now the yen is settling down into weaker territory as the fundamentals are considered.

The US dollar recovered a bit today after yesterday’s losses, but still remained soft amid speculations that the Federal Reserve may reduce its asset purchase program.

The Japanese yen gained today as politicians were worried that the excessive drop of the currency may be not that beneficial for the country and may actually hurt the economy.

This week was relatively quiet in terms of news, though some important macroeconomic reports were released. Meanwhile, the US dollar was rising against other most-traded currencies and the Dollar Index surged to the highest level in almost three years.

US dollar is heading higher today, surging on the latest news from the Federal Reserve. Comments about the Fed’s quantitive easing program — and its potential end this year — are lending strength to the greenback.