Big Yen Option Bet Risks Crushing Traders as Intervention Looms
- $2.85 billion of dollar-yen options expire Thursday at 150.5
- Currency pair hovering near Japan’s 2022 intervention level
Japan’s currency has already burned traders multiple times this year.
Photographer: Akio Kon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The imminent expiry of nearly $3 billion in dollar-yen options has traders on edge as the Japanese currency trades at levels that might trigger government intervention.
The yen slid to the weakest in about 34 years Wednesday, reaching 151.97 per dollar, prompting Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki to warn of potential “bold measures” to contain further losses. That was after Japan’s top currency official, Masato Kanda, delivered his strongest intervention threat in months earlier this week.