Yen Fluctuates as Intervention Impact Fades

The yen's value continues to fluctuate after a rare US-Japan intervention at the end of July. The Japanese currency has surrendered nearly half of its gains since then, leaving traders anticipating another intervention. The yen was last traded at 159.1 per dollar on Tuesday.

Speculators have cut their bearish yen bets by $8.865 billion to $3.604 billion in the week ending August 4, according to US regulatory data. However, analysts expect speculators to rebuild short positions due to the prospect of faster monetary tightening in Japan.

The Australian dollar held steady at $0.7054 on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its cash interest rate at 4.35% as expected. The RBA warned that it may need to raise rates again to combat inflation fueled by surging energy costs.