The Japanese yen weakened to a 34-year low of 160 yen against the U.S. dollar on Monday, before gaining by four yen amid speculation over state intervention.

According to Japan's Kyodo News and public broadcaster NHK, the yen-dollar exchange rate surpassed 160 yen against the greenback Monday morning for the first time since April 1990.

By around 1 p.m., the exchange rate dropped more than four yen to just over 155 yen against the dollar over a one-hour period, with Kyodo, citing a market representative, reporting the Japanese government and central bank may have intervened.

The yen-dollar exchange, which stood at around 140 yen to the dollar in early January, sharply rose from around 155 yen against the dollar after the Bank of Japan(BOJ) froze the key interest rate in the range between zero and point-one percent last Friday.

While Japanese authorities have failed in preventing the local currency’s value from plunging to the 34-year low through the suggestion of a possible intervention, the FX market forecast that authorities' direct intervention will have a limited effect.