US and Japan Unite Against Yen's Slide

The US and Japan have coordinated their first joint yen intervention since 2011 to halt the currency's slide to 40-year lows against the dollar.

Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is set to confirm on Monday that Tokyo and Washington acted together in the currency market. The operation remained ongoing as of Sunday, with officials familiar with the plans telling Reuters that the announcement would refer explicitly to joint action.

The intervention came after Japan bought yen for dollars during New York trading hours, with Bank of Japan data pointing to sales of as much as $58.97 billion. This move was followed by a further yen spike after Governor Kazuo Ueda's press conference, which markets read as a second bout of intervention.

The US Treasury bought yen on Friday through the New York Fed, selling euros to fund the purchase rather than drawing on dollars directly. This detail has puzzled currency strategists, with some questioning whether this coordination can reverse the wider pressures pushing the yen lower.