The Japanese Yen is demonstrably stronger across the board this morning, as risk appetite evaporates in the wake of the US Senate’s failure to pass the procedural vote on the US automaker bailout plan. USD/JPY is presently down at 89.60 having closed out Thursday in North America around 91.45, while EUR/JPY is down at 119.00 from around 122.10. Japanese Finance Minister Shoici Nakagawa told reporters in Tokyo that no intervention in the currency was planned for now, but that the markets would be watched with great interest. Meanwhile comments from an unnamed senior financial ministry official on Kyodo News seemed to have more of an edge to them, the official describing the foreign exchange fluctuations as “too volatile” adding “we will monitor the situation in the market and take appropriate actions.” Elsewhere, more bad economic news in Japan with November consumer confidence (nsa) falling to 28.4 from the previous 29.4, an all-time low.