Officials from Japan’s Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Japan and Financial Services Agency will hold their first three-way meeting since March later Tuesday.
(Bloomberg) — Officials from Japan’s Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Japan and Financial Services Agency will hold their first three-way meeting since March later Tuesday.
The unscheduled meeting comes with the yen having softened beyond 140 per the dollar to reach its weakest since November. Japan intervened in both September and October last year to prop up the currency after a slump that at one point took it past the 150 level.
The meeting is due to take place at 5:30 pm local time with top currency official Masato Kando set to talk with reporters afterward. No statement is expected to be released.
“On our verbal intervention scale, this is just a 2 out of 7, with 7 being warning of imminent intervention,” said David Forrester, Singapore-based strategist at Credit Agricole. “So today’s meeting is likely to make sure mechanisms are still in place to intervene if needed.”
Markets are nowhere near the level of volatility used to justify intervention last year he added.
The Japanese currency rallied about 0.5% from its intraday low of 140.93 per dollar as news of the meeting broke. It traded up 0.2% around 140.20 per dollar as of 4:20 p.m. in Tokyo.
Yen Weakens Past 140 Per Dollar as Traders See Another Fed Hike
Representatives from the three key institutions last met on March 17 in response to jitters in the global banking sector following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.
Some analysts have said the yen is close to hitting a bottom against the dollar, with an improving trade account and higher tourism arrivals offering support, and is unlikely to weaken to levels requiring intervention. The Japanese currency has declined more than 6% this year.
“At this point, the government is unlikely to intervene, as stocks have maintained a strong bias amid the weaker yen,” said Tsutomu Soma, a bond and currency trader at Monex Inc. “Investors may become more nervous should the yen fall to around 145.”
–With assistance from Yumi Teso and Masaki Kondo.
(Updates with additional context)
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