Yen Surges After Joint Intervention By Tokyo And Washington

The yen has surged in value after a joint intervention by Tokyo and Washington aimed at shoring up Japan's historically weak currency. The move, which was confirmed on Friday, saw Japan's finance ministry confirm that they bought as much as $58.97 billion worth of yen on Thursday.

The yen rose 1% in the Asian morning to an intraday high of 156.01 per U.S. dollar, following a more than 3% surge over two trading sessions last week. This has left traders on alert for further intervention from authorities if the yen begins to unwind its recent move.

Elias Haddad, global head of markets strategy at BBH, noted that 'joint FX intervention packs a punch' and that investors should follow official flows rather than opposing them. He pointed out that since 1998, all three coordinated U.S. FX intervention episodes were successful.