Yen Hits ¥157.30 Range Briefly in N.Y.; Market Speculates 2nd Consecutive Day of Currency Intervention

By Yasuhiro Kobayashi / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

16:14 JST, July 13, 2024

NEW YORK — The yen appreciated temporarily to ¥157.30 against the dollar in New York on Friday, fueling speculation of a second consecutive day of currency intervention by the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan.

The yen hovered around the upper ¥158 range against the dollar Friday morning, as trading got underway in New York.

Shortly after 9 a.m. (10 p.m. Friday Japan time), within just 10 minutes, the yen appreciated to the ¥157.30 range.

In the afternoon, it weakened back to the upper ¥157 range.

The U.S. consumer price inflation rate, which was released the day before, was below market expectations, leading to speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates as early as September.

Rate cut speculation has made the dollar less attractive as an investment vehicle, a situation that tends to result in the currency being sold off.

In response to fluctuations in the foreign exchange market, Masato Kanda, vice finance minister for international affairs, said early Saturday that he could not say whether Japan intervened or not. “We can’t talk about the situation without mentioning that there were one-sided and speculative fluctuations,” Kanda said.