Yen Gets Rare Boost From Washington and Tokyo

The Rare Joint Intervention

Washington joined Tokyo in a rare coordinated intervention to support the yen.

The action was also the first U.S.-Japan intervention since the Group of Seven moved to push the yen down after the 2011 earthquake - this time, however, the aim was to make the yen stronger.

Analysts tied the move to concerns about U.S. government-bond markets and the soundness of Japan's financial system. Japan holds more U.S. government debt than any other foreign country, and Washington wanted to avoid a situation in which Tokyo felt forced to offload a large chunk of its Treasurys to finance a solo intervention.

"There is a self-preservation element here. Volatile markets driven by potentially fiscally-aggressive policies from Japan could extend to the U.S. Treasury markets, destabilizing the dollar," said Louise Loo, who leads Asia economics at Oxford Economics.

Trade politics also played a role. Washington has long maintained that the yen is "substantially undervalued," a position that views the weak currency as an unfair trade advantage because it makes Japanese exports cheaper.

President Donald Trump said Washington's participation was an act of solidarity with Tokyo and served the cause of global economic stability. Jesper Koll, expert director at Monex, called the operation a new phase in U.S.-Japan relations. "When Japan asks for help America will answer Japan's call," he said. He also argued that Beijing would take notice, since "China's leadership cares about actions, not words."

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Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho Securities' head of macro research for Asia outside Japan, said U.S. participation strengthens the deterrent effect. Combined with warnings from both governments that they "will not hesitate" to intervene again, it "ups the ante on deterrence" against speculative bets weighing on the yen.

The Funding Twist

The funding side of the intervention surprised markets. The United States reportedly sold euros to buy yen, rather than dollars, breaking with the long-established use of dollar assets.

Robin Brooks, a Brookings Institution senior fellow, raised doubts about the mechanics. "On the surface, that may give the impression that this intervention will be more impactful than past efforts, but U.S. participation raises more questions than answers, especially the very odd news that the US sold Euros to buy Yen," he said.

"This kind of twist in my opinion undercuts the efficacy of U.S. participation, because it invariably will have markets wondering why the U.S. didn't just fund Yen buying out of Dollars."

In Brooks's view, intervention cannot reverse a slide driven by Japan's bond market. "As long as Japan's government bond yields are artificially capped," he said, "the yen is overvalued and needs to fall." The Bank of Japan formally scrapped its yield curve control framework in March 2024; it has nevertheless kept up large-scale purchases of Japanese government bonds. Those continued purchases, he argued, hold down borrowing costs relative to where a free market would set them.

What to Watch Next

Through the Fed's FIMA repo window, overseas central banks can access dollar funding without having to sell their Treasury holdings.

Japan's Finance Ministry announced Monday that future intervention funding would be handled through the Fed's FIMA repo window. State Street senior macro strategist Masahiko Loo said that signal "may be bigger than the intervention itself." The announcement is effectively an assurance that Japan can tap dollar funding without selling Treasuries, easing fears that action to support the yen would strain U.S. funding markets via short-dated Treasury sales.

Analysts cautioned that the joint effort might not last any longer than previous interventions unless Japan tackles the structural causes of yen weakness. Ultimately, a stronger currency depends on the Bank of Japan tightening monetary policy rather than on repeated intervention, said Oxford Economics' Loo. The operation could give the BOJ breathing room until it can restart policy tightening later this year.

"Intervention may shape the next few months. BOJ normalization and hedging flows will shape the next few years," Masahiko Loo said.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury has climbed almost 57 basis points since the beginning of the year.

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