Japan intervenes in currency market to halt yen's fall against USD: media

Japanese authorities intervened in the currency market on Thursday to curb the yen's steep fall against the U.S. dollar, Kyodo News reported, citing government sources. The Japanese yen briefly surged to the 155 level against the U.S. dollar from the upper 160 range on Thursday, hours after Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and Atsushi Mimura, vice finance minister for international affairs, warned of intervention to curb the currency's recent slide. However, on Friday, Mimura refused to confirm whether any action had been taken, saying only "I have no intention to comment on such matters." Ahead of the yen's sharp rebound, Katayama and Mimura had intensified their warnings of "decisive action" to arrest its decline, as the Japanese currency weakened to 160.72 against the U.S. dollar in Tokyo trading, its lowest level since July 2024, amid the Middle East conflict. "The time for decisive action, which I have previously mentioned, is finally getting closer," Katayama said Thursday, while Mimura called his warning "the final evacuation advisory" against speculative moves. The U.S. dollar has continued to attract buying as a safe-haven asset in times of uncertainty. It also strengthened as markets expect that the U.S.-Japan interest rate differential will remain wide, after both the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan left their policy rates unchanged earlier this week. Japan last stepped into the currency market in July 2024, after the yen had slumped to a roughly 38-year low against the U.S. dollar near the 162 yen line.