Japan Drops $53 Billion on Yen as USD/JPY Decline Accelerates

Japan intervened in the currency market to support its yen by buying $53 billion worth of it, sparking concerns over USD/JPY's decline towards four-decade lows. The operation is estimated to be Tokyo's largest single-day intervention with ¥8.45 trillion spent on Thursday.

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged at 1% after the suspected intervention. Markets are now watching Governor Kazuo Ueda's guidance on future rate hikes, which could support the yen. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama declined to confirm whether authorities intervened.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Japan may have acted to support the yen and that it 'seems very undervalued to me.' The comments increased market focus on whether Washington backed the operation. No official statement confirmed that U.S. authorities sold dollars directly.