The yen weakened from near its postwar record against the dollarand the Swiss franc fell amid speculation policy makers in bothcountries will seek to curb gains in their currencies that arehurting exporters.

The yen dropped the most in two weeks after Japan's FinanceMinister Yoshihiko Noda said he's ready to take decisive stepsafter the currency strengthened to 75.95 against the greenback onAug. 19. Most Swiss support intervention by the Swiss National Bankto curb gains in the franc, SonntagsZeitung reported yesterday,citing a survey. The euro gained for a second day against thedollar as European stocks rallied.

“One of the big drivers for these two currencies has been theheightened speculation of imminent intervention by the Japanese andSwiss authorities,” said Lee Hardman, a currency strategist at Bankof Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in London. The yen “probably has themost potential for upside out of the two currencies. The biggestrisk to that would be another bout of coordinated, multilateralintervention to weaken the yen.”