The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen on Wednesday after Japan unexpectedly moved to weaken the yen.

The dollar rose 3 percent against yen in New York, the biggest one-day gain versus the yen since the financial crisis.

The yen has hit a series of 15-year highs versus the dollar since August, as investors considered the currency as a safe haven.

The Bank of Japan sold yen and bought dollars directly in the marketplace after the dollar fell to 82.88 yen on Tuesday.

In late trading in New York, the dollar traded at 85.62 yen, up from 83.07 on Tuesday.

The euro dipped to 1.3006 dollars from 1.3019 dollars, while the British pound rose to 1.5620 dollars from 1.5569 dollars.