The U.S. dollar briefly plunged to the lower 155 yen range from the upper 157 yen level on Monday morning after Japan and the United States said they conducted coordinated yen buying late last week and warned of further intervention
At noon, the dollar fetched 156.46-47 yen after briefly hitting 155.20 yen, compared with 157.33-43 yen in New York and 160.20-22 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Friday
The euro was quoted at $1.1531-1532 and 180.42-46 yen against $1.1517-1527 and 181.39-49 yen in New York and $1.1514-1515 and 184.46-50 yen in Tokyo late Friday afternoon
After Tokyo and Washington said they conducted their first joint market intervention in 15 years on Friday, Japan’s top currency bureaucrat pledged to continue taking action to curb excessive volatility of the yen
Atsushi Mimura, vice finance minister for international affairs, also said the recent currency intervention marked “the completion of the U.S.-Japan currency alliance,” suggesting the two countries will work as one if necessary
<a href="https://todaytrendnews7.com/the-us-has-stepped-in-to-buy-japanese-yen-why/” title=”The US has stepped in to buy Japanese yen. Why?”>Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said both countries “will not hesitate to conduct a further joint intervention.”
Takuya Kanda, senior researcher at the Gaitame.com Research Institute, said, “Intervention is nothing but a quick fix, or a way to buy time, and a coordinated intervention is the way to make its effects last longer.”
Tokyo stocks fell sharply, with the Nikkei index briefly plunging over 2 percent, amid concern that the surging yen could disrupt companies’ business outlooks
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 1,121.51 points, or 1.74 percent, from Friday to 63,240.51. The broader Topix index was down 86.69 points, or 2.17 percent, at 3,916.61
Gains of some heavyweight technology issues were locked in, after the Nikkei stock index surged nearly 2,500 points the previous trading day, also pressuring the market
Related coverage:
