The Japanese yen traded around 161.5 per dollar on Tuesday, hovering near its weakest level since 1986, as repeated verbal interventions from Tokyo failed to halt the currency’s slide. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said she spoke by phone with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, reaffirming an agreement to coordinate action in the foreign exchange market if necessary.
Investors remain on high alert for a fresh round of official intervention after the yen surrendered all the gains it made on April 30, when Tokyo launched a record-sized yen-buying operation. The currency has stayed under pressure despite the Bank of Japan’s recent interest rate hike, which markets regard as too modest to meaningfully narrow Japan’s interest-rate gap with other major economies. Additional downward pressure on the yen has come from a stronger US dollar, bolstered by hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve.
