The yen dropped across the board, with the dollar pushing up to 81.10 yen but still not far from a record low of 79.75 hit against the Japanese currency in 1995. The Australian dollar jumped nearly 1 percent against the yen. Traders are still keeping an eye out for Japanese companies and insurers selling their hefty foreign asset holdings and repatriate funds to cover costs from the nuclear crisis, quake and tsunami, a factor that could drive the yen higher. Japan's Nikkei average was up 6.4 percent at 9,152 after having plunged 10.6 percent on Tuesday but was still down 11 percent from Friday's close. Osaka Nikkei futures were up 4.5 percent at 9,030. The broader TOPIX pushed up 6.5 percent to 816. Hedge funds were cited as aggressive sellers of Nikkei futures on Tuesday as the market panicked over reports of leaking radiation from the stricken ***ushima nuclear reactor and higher radiation readings near Tokyo
