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English/Nat The U-S dollar surged against the yen on Tokyo's foreign exchange on Monday. It was boosted by talk that the Bank of Japan had again stepped into the currency markets, selling yen for dollars in a bid to stem the Japanese currency's rise. The move that could help the country's flagging exports came as fresh data showed a slump in May exports across the board. Tokyo share prices rose moderately. The dollar was trading at 121.94 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market on Monday, up 2.62 yen from late Friday. In currency dealings, traders believed the Bank of Japan (B-O-J) bought dollars and sold yen on Monday morning. However it was not immediately known at which level the bank stepped in. The apparent intervention was said to have taken place shortly after the Finance Ministry announced that Japan's trade surplus shrank by a greater than expected 31.5 per cent in May. If the intervention did occur, it would mark the fourth time in less than two weeks that Japan's central bank has done so. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I think it's a very powerful signal from the Japanese authorities that they really do not want the yen to appreciate any further, and I think the reasoning for that is that the economy is just not strong enough to absorb a consistently higher exchange rate. So I, for one, have a lot of sympathy in the Japanese authorities' approach to this. I think at the moment, the underlying performance of the private sector is still very very fragile and the growth in the economy that we've seen over recent periods really has to be nurtured if it's to survive." SUPER CAPTION: Russel Jones, Chief Economist, Lehman Brothers Japan In other currencies, the euro was also up against the Japanese currency, quoted at 126.44 yen, up from 122.73 late on Friday. On the stock market, prices started higher as foreign investors continued to buy stocks on hopes that Japan's tenuous economic recovery may finally be picking up steam. The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed at 17,738.85 points, up 307.59 points, or 1.76 per cent from Friday. At a summit in Germany of the G-8, the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations plus Russia, participating leaders have maintained pressure on Japan to do more to ensure it is on a domestic-led growth path. Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in turn has said the Japanese government will take every measure available to ensure stable growth. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/02e5b9dfd9352020e4f0b9a1c9e614df Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork