The yen gained against the dollar Tuesday, rebounding from four straight days of losses that pushed it to a 2 1/2-year low as a warning from a Japanese minister about the disadvantages of excessive yen weakness prompted investors to shed bearish bets.

After gaining an impressive 2.3 percent since the start of the year, many believe the dollar was firmly poised for profit taking, but its fall should be temporary given widespread expectations of aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan.

The dollar last traded down 1.0 percent at 88.59 yen, hurt by comments from Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari who said excessive yen weakness could hurt people by raising import prices.

Amari's comments countered comments made by officials over the past month that have strongly encouraged yen weakness.