Tokyo - The yen rose for a third day against theU.S. dollar as a Japanese finance ministry officialsaid the government may buy yen to slow thecurrency's decline. The yen climbed as much as 0.6 percent to 124.59per dollar and most recently traded at 124.76. TheJapanese currency weakened 10.5 percent in thefirst quarter, the biggest quarterly decline in 22quarters. The yen traded at 113.09 per euro,compared with the 112.91 set in New York. ``It's true that the yen's drop for the past couple ofweeks was a bit too rapid,'' Haruhiko Kuroda,Japan's vice finance minister for internationalaffairs told reporters this morning. ``If such a rapidmove continues and doesn't comply with theeconomic fundamentals, we'll take appropriateactions at an appropriate time.'' The dollar earlier this month rose to a 2 1/2 yearhigh against the yen, in part because currencytraders speculated that Japanese officials wouldwelcome a weaker yen, as that may help Japan toboost economy by increasing exports and easingdeflation. The Japanese currency has gained this week oncomments casting doubts on both the U.S. andJapan's support for a weaker yen and as thedollar's rapid rise made it vulnerable, traders said. ``These comments came at a time when the marketalso considers the pace is too rapid,'' said TakashiToyahara, foreign exchange manager at NomuraTrust and Banking Co. ``The market naturally reactsto these comments, pushing up the yen.'' Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa also said Mondaythe yen's drop has been ``too rapid.'' That helpedthe currency rise in the following days onspeculation the government may act to stem itsdecline. Kuroda also wrote in a column published in today'sAsian Wall Street Journal that the yen's drop hasnot been induced or manipulated by actions of thegovernment and so long as yen exchange rates arestable and in line with fundamentals, policyintervention is unwarranted. Yet, ``in the event the market becomes disorderlyand moves against fundamentals, the governmentwill take appropriate actions in the market,'' hewrote. The yen also rose on expectations a government-led economic stimulus plan, the release of whichwas postponed to tomorrow from yesterday, mayhelp boost Japanese economy and stock prices,said Nomura Trust's Toyahara. The emergency economic-stimulus package isexpected to include steps to force banks to write offbad debts within two years, and cuts in capitalgains, inheritance and gift taxes, according torecommendations made by the policy chiefs of thethree ruling coalition parties. ``If the announcement is postponed again tomorrowor the contents turn out to be disappointing,investors may sell yen as they would doubt Japan'sseriousness in undertaking structural reform,'' saidYasuo Kayamoto, vice president for foreignexchange at Sanwa Bank Ltd. U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill saidyesterday he was disappointed the announcementwas delayed. Euro The euro rose for a four days against the dollar onspeculation the European Central Bank will cutinterest rates as soon as next week to boostgrowth. The euro rose to 90.69 U.S. cents, its strongestsince March 21, from 90.11 cents in late New York.Against the yen, it rose yesterday to as high as113.69, its highest since October 1999. ``The market expects a rate cut to wipe off lingeringconcerns the euro-zone economy is stalling,'' saidKenichi Ishiwaki, a foreign exchange manager atToyo Trust & Banking Co. Lower rates could help boost growth, attractinginvestors to European financial assets and theeuros needed to buy them. Expectations for a rate cut were spurred yesterdayas a report showed the number of unemployedpeople in Germany rose unexpectedly for a thirdstraight month in March. For weeks, investors have punished the euro asthey concluded the ECB was being too slow to cutrates. The currency fell 5 percent versus dollar inMarch. Also helping the euro, U.S. stocks tumbled,diminishing demand for dollars. The NasdaqComposite Index declined 11 percent this week.The euro posted Tuesday the fourth-biggestpercentage rise against the dollar since its January1999 debut as U.S. stock indexes tumbled. ``The market's starting to assign the dollar less of asafe haven premium,'' said Andrew Delano, acurrency analyst at IDEAglobal.com in New York.``How strong can a currency be when its assets arebeing pummeled?'' In other trading, the dollar fell to 1.6875 Swissfrancs from 1.6957 francs in late New York. TheBritish pound was quoted at $1.4369, up from$1.4331 yesterday.