Yen down 1.4% vs dollar in June, nearly 12% weaker this year...

	  Yen down 1.4% vs dollar in June, nearly 12% weaker this year 

	  People skeptical about merits of intervention -analyst 

	  Focus on inflation data release this week 

	  Markets await Trump-Biden presidential debate this week 

(Adds comment, updates prices; adds bullets, graphic, FX table)

The U.S. dollar slipped from an eight-week high against the yen on Monday, with traders back on alert for government intervention to support the Japanese currency after it hit just shy of 160, a level that earlier triggered action from the Ministry of Finance to prop it up.

The greenback rose to 159.94 JPY=EBS earlier in the session, the highest since April 29, when the yen touched a 34-year low of 160.245. That led Japanese authorities to spend roughly 9.8 trillion yen to support the currency.

It briefly tumbled in European trading to 158.75 per dollar, and was last 0.1% weaker at 159.65. The dollar fell after seven straight days of gains.

"The Japanese track record suggests that they do not target a specific level," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist, at Bannockburn Forex in New York.

"So why is the market testing the BOJ (Bank of Japan) again? One of the reasons is that there has been a camp that's very skeptical about the merits of intervention when interest rates are so wide."

U.S. 10-year yields were last at 4.251% US10YT=RR , while 10-year Japanese government bonds yields were at 0.99% JP10YT=RR .

Earlier, Japan's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said authorities will take appropriate steps if there is excessive foreign exchange movement, and that the addition of Japan to the U.S. Treasury's monitoring list would not restrict their actions.

The yen has come under renewed pressure after the BOJ's decision this month to postpone reducing bond-buying stimulus until its July meeting. It has been down 1.4% against the dollar so far in June, and nearly 12% weaker this year.

A summary of opinions at the BOJ's June policy meeting on Monday showed some policymakers called for raising interest rates in a timely fashion as they saw a risk of inflation overshooting expectations.

INFLATION TEST, US PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE LOOM The spotlight this week will be on Friday's release of the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which the Federal Reserve relies on to gauge progress in getting inflation down to its 2% target.

A number showing price pressures easing is likely to bolster bets on a rate cut as early as September, which futures currently price as a 70% prospect.

The dollar index =USD , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.4% to 105.46, sliding from a nearly eight-week high of 105.91 it touched last week.

Another focus through the week will be politics. The first U.S. presidential debate between President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump is on Thursday after U.S. markets close.

"Certainly there's quite a bit of interest in whether or not the dollar is specifically mentioned," said Brian Daingerfield, FX strategist at Natwest Markets in Stamford, Connecticut. "We know former President Trump has at times criticized the value of the dollar as being too strong."

Meanwhile, in France, the first round of voting in the French election is on Sunday.

The euro EUR=EBS , which has been under pressure since French President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election earlier this month, was up 0.4% at $1.0737, but was still down about 1% against the dollar in June so far.

France's far right National Rally (RN) party and its allies were seen leading the first round of the country's elections with 35.5% of the expected vote, an opinion poll published on Sunday showed.

RN lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy, who is widely seen as the most likely candidate to head the finance ministry if the party wins and forms a government, told Reuters an RN government would stick to the European Union's fiscal rules.

Sterling GBP=D3 firmed 0.4% to $1.2690. The Australian dollar AUD=D3 gained 0.2% versus the greenback to US$0.6655, while the New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 rose 0.2% to US$0.6129.

Meanwhile, spot yuan CNY=CFXS was trading at 7.2598 per dollar, close to its lowest in seven months, weighed by broad strength in the dollar and worries about weakness in the world's second-largest economy.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin BTC= fell to its lowest since May 2nd of $59,619.21 and was last down 6% at $60,319.00. Ether ETH= dropped 6.3% to $3,302. Currency bid prices at 24 June​ 07:15 p.m. GMT

 Descripti  RIC	Last	  U.S.	   Pct	 YTD Pct  High	 Low 
 on						  Close	  Change		   Bid	  Bid 
							 Previous							  
							 Session							   
 Dollar	 <=USD  105.46	105.88	 -0.38%  4.03%	105.9	105. 
 index	  >													 37 
 Euro/Doll  												  684 
 Dollar/Ye  
 n		  D3>												   81 
 Euro/Yen   
			PY=>												  4 
 Dollar/Sw  												  23 
 Sterling/  												   684​ 
 Dollar/Ca  												   5 
 Aussie/Do  												   627 
 Euro/Swis  												  5 
 Euro/Ster  												  52 
 NZ		 												   05 
 llar															   Dollar/No  
 rway	   >													 228 
 Euro/Norw  
 ay		 OK=>												  885 
 Dollar/Sw  
 eden	   >													 383 
 Euro/Swed  
 en		 EK=>												  14 
	<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
World FX rates	https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E 
Polls tighten between Biden and Trump	https://reut.rs/3xs1UTS 
	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>