Friday, the yen weakened against other major currencies in Asian trading after finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven agreed to intervene jointly in the foreign exchange markets for the first time in more than a decade to stabilize the yen.

The G7 nations are the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.

Today's joint agreement by the G7 officials came in response to the yen's surge to record level against the dollar this week.

"In response to recent movements in the exchange rate of the yen associated with the tragic events in Japan, and at the request of the Japanese authorities, the authorities of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Central Bank will join with Japan, on March 18, in concerted intervention in exchange markets," the G7 statement said.

"We express our solidarity with the Japanese people in these difficult times, our readiness to provided needed cooperation and our confidence in the resilience of the Japanese economy and financial sector," the G7 statement said.

The yen has climbed steadily since last week's earthquake and tsunami as global investors closed long positions in higher-yielding and riskier assets, funded by cheap borrowing in the Japanese currency.

Expectations that Japanese companies will repatriate their overseas assets to help cover disaster-related costs also contributed to the yen's strength.

In an effort to calm markets and to reassure investors, the Bank of Japan poured cash into the financial system this week to stabilize money markets. The central bank doubled its asset-purchase fund to 10 trillion yen on March 14, pledging to step up purchases of securities including government debt, exchange-traded funds and real-estate investment trusts.

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said this morning that the dollar's plunge to an all-time low around the 76 level against the yen was a factor taken into account in Japan's decision to seek cooperation in intervention in the currency markets from its Group of Seven counterparts.

Noda also said Japan's Ministry of Finance started intervention at 9 am Tokyo time and each other central banks would intervene in their own timezones.

Early in Asia yesterday, the yen surged up to a record high against the U.S. dollar, 2-year high against the pound and the Canadian dollar and new multi-month highs against the euro, franc, Aussie and the NZ dollar. But the yen came off from highs in late Asian trade and almost moved sideways in the European and U.S. sessions.

The yen's plunge today took it to a 2-week low against the euro and multi-day lows against the rest of majors. Thus far, the yen lost 7.3 percent against the greenback, 8.6 percent against the euro, 6.6 percent against the franc, 8 percent against the pound and the Canadian dollar and 9 percent against the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

Today's coordinated intervention in international currency markets marked the first by the G-7 countries since 2000, when they intervened in an effort to strengthen the euro.

Japan had called on the group to issue a statement in October 2008, when the global financial crisis drove the yen near a 13-year high against the dollar. They responded by expressing concern about "excessive" volatility, stopping short of indicating any intervention.

However, the Japanese government stepped into currency markets on September 15, 2010 after the yen rose to a 15-year high against the dollar.

The yen declined against the U.S. dollar in Asian deals. The yen is currently trading at a 3-day low of 81.86 against the dollar. If the yen weakens further, it may likely target the 83.0 level. The dollar-yen pair closed yesterday's trading at 78.92.

During Asian deals, the yen dropped to a 2-week low of 115.30 against the euro. The next downside target level for the yen is seen at 116.0. At yesterday's close, the euro-yen pair was quoted at 110.66.

The yen fell to near a 1-year low of 90.34 against the Swiss franc in the Asian session. On the downside, 91.1 is seen as the next target level for the Japanese currency. The franc-yen pair was worth 87.87 at yesterday's close.

The yen also slipped to a 3-day low of 132.54 against the pound and 83.46 against the Canadian dollar in Asian trading. If the yen slides further, it may target 135.3 against the pound and 85.2 against the loonie. The pound-yen and the loonie-yen pairs were worth 127.35 and 80.11, respectively at yesterday's close.

The yen edged down to a 3-day low of 81.43 against the Australian dollar in the Asian session. On the downside, 82.0 is seen as the next target level for the Japanese currency. At yesterday's close, the aussie-yen pair was quoted at 77.40.

Against the New Zealand dollar, the yen declined to a 3-day low of 59.78. This may be compared to yesterday's close of 56.65. The next downside target level for the yen is seen at 60.5.

Sentiment across Asian markets also received a boost today amid reports that a power cable has now reached reactor no. 2 of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 3 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.7 percent, China's Shangai composite index soared 0.6 percent, New Zealand's NZX 50 index gained 0.3 percent, South Korea's Kospi advanced 1 percent, Taiwan's main index edged up 1.3 percent, Australia's S&P 200 index advanced 1.3 percent and the All Ordinaries index was 1.4 percent higher.

In the upcoming European session, German PPI, U.K. public finances data and Swiss import and export prices - all for February, Eurozone current account and trade balance for January are slated for release.

At 7 am ET, Canada's CPI for February is expected.