Japan Puts Yen Speculators on Notice After First Currency Market Intervention in Nearly Two Years

Japan's yen has been weakening under pressure from wide U.S.-Japan interest rate gaps and soaring oil prices tied to the Iran war. On Thursday, Tokyo stepped into currency markets for the first time in nearly two years, buying yen and sending it surging by as much as 3 percent. The intervention followed Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama's warning that "decisive action" was approaching, with the yen having fallen past 160 per dollar, the level authorities treat as their line in the sand. After the move, the yen strengthened to 155.5 before trimming gains to 156.99 per dollar. On Friday, Japan's top currency official Atsushi Mimura stopped short of confirming the intervention but issued a clear warning that further action remains possible, especially during the upcoming Golden Week holidays. Japan confirmed it remains in "extremely close contact" with the U.S. on currency market developments.