The Japanese yen briefly weakened to 150 per US dollar yesterday, the first time since October 2022, but then sharply strengthened to as much as 147.30 per dollar as the market speculated that this could have been an intervention by the Japanese government to support its weak currency.
Currency traders and watchers have been monitoring the yen for weeks as the currency was close to hitting its one-year high several times, which could lead to Japanese policymakers stepping in.
Yesterday before the 150 level was broken, the Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said that Japan will take appropriate steps against excessive moves in the yen without ruling out any options.
Many believed that an intervention is among options that the minister was mentioning. However, some experts noted that the size of the move was not convincing enough after comparing it to the size of intervention last year when the yen rose 4% at its peak.
