Yen soars as Japan intervenes after issuing 'final' warning

 

The yen surged more than 2%, for its biggest gain in three years, after Japan intervened in the foreign-exchange market hours after officials delivered a "final" warning to investors against selling the currency.

— The Japan Times 

 

Yen soars as Japan intervenes after issuing 'final' warning

Pedestrians walk past a stock quotation board showing the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen, outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Thursday.

Pedestrians walk past a stock quotation board showing the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen, outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Thursday. | REUTERS

The yen surged more than 2%, for its biggest gain in three years, after Japan intervened in the foreign-exchange market hours after officials delivered a "final" warning to investors against selling the currency.

The Finance Ministry in Tokyo didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. However, Japan's Nikkei newspaper, citing a government official, reported that the government bought yen and sold dollars. Several traders and strategists also said the abruptness of the move indicated action.

Economic officials in the U.S. were notified ahead of Japan's intervention, according to someone familiar with the matter. The effort is in line with a Group of Seven agreement to alert counterparts, and to only act when there's risk of excess volatility.

The yen reached 155.57 per dollar, the strongest since the end of February. It subsequently resumed cheapening and traded around 156.50 late in the New York afternoon.

Until the government stepped in, the currency had been trading close to its cheapest levels in four decades, risking faster inflation by making imports — including already soaring oil — pricier.

Hours before, the nation's top currency official, Atsushi Mimura, told speculators he was delivering a "final advisory if you want to escape" and echoed comments from Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama that "the timing for taking bold steps is nearing."

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/05/01/economy/yen-intervention-surge/