The yen weakened in the foreign-exchange market in the early hours of the 12th, with the dollar rising into the upper ¥159 range. After remarks by the Vice Minister of Finance hinting at yen-buying intervention were reported, the market moved with the ¥160 level in focus.
In the foreign-exchange market in the early hours of the 12th, the yen weakened, temporarily reaching the upper ¥159 range per dollar and approaching the ¥160 milestone. As of 5 p.m., dollar-yen was trading at ¥159.70-71, with the yen down 83 sen against the dollar from the previous day.
Expectations for a U.S. rate hike strengthened amid concerns about inflation, putting a widening Japan-U.S. interest-rate differential in focus and prompting yen selling and dollar buying.
Vice Minister of Finance Mimura Atsushi (三村淳) said on the morning of the 12th that the yen's decline seemed to be moving too quickly in recent days, cautioning the market with the coordinated Japan-U.S. intervention carried out at the end of July in mind.
The yen was bought back to the mid-¥159 range amid concern about intervention, but the contents of a speech by Bank of Japan Policy Board member Asada Toichiro (浅田統一郎) were subsequently viewed as dovish and cautious about rate hikes. Yen selling and dollar buying resumed, putting the psychological ¥160 level in focus.