The dollar briefly plunged to the lower ¥156 range in Tokyo foreign exchange trading on the 3rd, but later recovered to the lower ¥157 range. The move was attributed to expectations of an accelerated pace of BOJ rate hikes and comments by the U.S. Treasury secretary.
Dollar-yen selling dominated the Tokyo market on the 3rd, sending the pair briefly plunging to the lower ¥156 range, or ¥156 per dollar. Buying returned later, and the pair was trading in the lower ¥157 range around 5 p.m. The range as of 5 p.m. was ¥157.03 to ¥157.06, representing a yen gain and dollar decline of about ¥2.66 from the previous day's close of around ¥159.69.
In overseas markets the previous day, the pair plunged to the ¥158.20 range on heavy selling early in the session, then recovered briefly to around ¥159 on factors including elevated crude oil prices, before falling again to the ¥158.60 range amid heightened concern over intervention by the Japanese government and the BOJ.
In the morning session in Tokyo, dip-buying lifted the pair to around ¥158.95, but selling pressure then prevailed and it followed a gradual downward trend. The selling tone continued in the afternoon, pushing the pair down to the upper ¥156 range, but buying returned thereafter.
Market participants said that Takata Hajime (高田 創), a BOJ Policy Board member, had expressed support the previous day for an accelerated pace of rate hikes, which was seen as having “prompted active selling.” They also said that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's call for a shift toward reflationary policy put pressure on dollar-yen.
In European trading, the euro plunged against the yen but remained firm against the dollar. As of 5 p.m., the euro was at ¥182.23–¥182.24 and $1.1603–$1.1603 against the dollar.