The yen rose in the foreign exchange market on the 3rd, briefly approaching ¥157, before later returning to the mid-¥155 range. Comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent prompted an unwinding of yen-selling and Japanese government bond-selling positions.
The yen rose in the foreign exchange market on the 3rd, briefly reaching the ¥155 range against the dollar for the first time in a month. Some market participants said selling of the yen and Japanese government bonds, centered on overseas investors, appeared to be unwinding.
The yen was trading at around ¥158.90 per dollar at 9 a.m. on the 3rd, but had risen to the mid-¥155 range shortly after 9 p.m. Market participants said the view that the yen would weaken further had come to dominate sentiment.
As hedge funds and others are believed to have bought back substantial amounts of yen, the prevailing view is that the yen's future direction will depend on how long the impact of U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent's comments persists and on U.S.-Japan interest-rate trends.