Japan, US Unite to Support Yen Against Dollar

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is expected to announce on Monday that Tokyo and Washington took joint action in the currency market to arrest the yen's slide to 40-year lows. The announcement follows rounds of yen-buying in the market by Japanese and U.S. authorities, the first joint intervention since 2011.

The operation is still ongoing, with Bank of Japan data suggesting that Tokyo sold as much as $58.97 billion to support the yen on Thursday. This move came hours before the BOJ decided to keep monetary policy steady while signalling a strong chance it would raise interest rates soon.

Analysts believe that the widening rate differential between Japan and the U.S. has been a key factor in the dollar's rise against the yen, with critics warning that Japan could face constraints to continued yen-buying intervention due to potential funding pressures.