New Delhi, Aug. 7 -- TOKYO - Japan's yen gave back nearly half the gains from the joint US-Japan intervention that briefly pushed it to a three-month high last week, settling at 158.45 per dollar on Friday and leaving unanswered the question of how far authorities will let it slip before stepping in again.

that without a change in the underlying rate differentials driving yen weakness, coordinated buying could slow but not stop the currency's drift. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley conducted the US Treasury's yen purchases on behalf of the New York Federal Reserve, CNBC reported.

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, who confirmed the coordinated intervention with the US Treasury on Monday, has said Japan will not hesitate to act again. Th...