Overview
- Following Thursday's yen-buying operation reported by multiple outlets, the currency jumped as much as 3% to about 155.5 per dollar from near 160 before hovering around 156–157 on Friday.
- Atsushi Mimura, Japan's top currency official, declined to confirm the move but warned speculators and said Tokyo is in extremely close contact with U.S. counterparts during the Golden Week lull.
- Bloomberg-based estimates put the outlay near ¥5.4 trillion, or about $34.5 billion, and traders now expect officials to re-enter markets if fresh weakness appears in thin holiday trading.
- Officials also kept the door open to acting in crude oil futures to blunt spillovers from energy markets, as high oil prices and a blocked Strait of Hormuz raise Japan’s import costs and squeeze households and firms.
- The yen’s slump reflects a wide U.S.–Japan rate gap and the Bank of Japan’s slower tightening, with analysts noting that past interventions in 2022 and 2024 offered only brief relief without a change in these drivers.