Overview
- The United States and Japan conducted a coordinated yen‑buying operation on July 31, the first joint U.S.‑Japan intervention since 1998, aimed at stemming a run of weakness that pushed the yen near 40‑year lows.
- Japan’s Ministry of Finance released quarterly data showing a record single‑day unilateral intervention on April 30 of ¥6.2787 trillion (about $39.6 billion), underscoring how aggressively Tokyo has already acted this year.
- The joint action pushed the yen up to roughly ¥155 per dollar but the currency later gave back much of those gains and was trading near ¥158.4, leaving markets to judge the durability of the move.
- Analysts and banks caution that interventions buy only short‑term relief unless the Bank of Japan raises policy rates to narrow the wide US–Japan yield gap, and Bank of America said the yen could reach about ¥149 by year‑end only if coordinated action is sustained and the BOJ tightens policy.
- Officials and strategists say Washington joined to prevent Japan from selling US Treasuries to fund intervention, a move meant to curb spillovers to US bond yields and to deter large short‑yen positions that have driven global carry trades and market volatility.