Traders Highlight Risks for Japan Going Solo on Yen Intervention

Traders are questioning how effective Japan could be if it were to intervene alone to support the yen, after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cast doubt on the prospect of coordinated action.

Those hopes were dented after Bessent said on Wednesday the US is “absolutely not” intervening in the dollar-yen market, helping trigger an as much as 1.2% slump in the yen — its biggest in more than five weeks. Earlier, speculation of so-called rate checks by the Federal Reserve of New York gave the yen a lift, nudging the pair toward the 150 handle.