The dollar eased from a near eight-week high on Monday, with traders back on alert for intervention to support the yen after the Japanese currency flirted with the 160 per dollar level that had earlier drawn verbal warnings from Japanese authorities. Dollar/yen topped at 159.94 in early trade, its highest since April 29, when the yen touched a 34-year low of 160.
245, leading to Japanese authorities spending roughly 9.8 trillion yen to support the currency. It briefly tumbled in the European morning to 158.
75 per dollar, and was last 0.28% weaker at 159.35.
“Certainly didn’t look like intervention ...
nonetheless, it does speak to how jittery the market likely is about the prospect for intervention,” said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone. “I think so long as any further weakness is not especially rapid or disorderly in nature, the MoF (Ministry of Finance) are unlikely to step in just yet.” Earlier, Japan’s top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said authorities will take appropriate steps if there is excessive foreign exchange movement, and that the addition of Japan to the U.
S. Treasury’s monitoring list would not restrict their actions. The yen has come under renewed pressure after the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) decision this month to postpone reducing bond-buying stimulus until its July meeting.
It is down 1.5% in June. A summary of opinions at the BOJ’s June policy meeting on Monday showed some policymakers called for raising interest rate.
