Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda yesterday sharpened his rhetoric on the yen’s steep gains after the Nikkei Shimbun reported Tokyo may consider selling the yen in solo intervention if speculators drive it up, threatening the economy’s recovery.
Noda told reporters he would respond appropriately as needed, an expression he has not previously used in his campaign to talk the currency down.
Noda was to meet Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other ministers later.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Market players, however, questioned whether intervention alone would do much to stem a rise that took the yen to a 15-year high against the US dollar and a nine-year peak against the euro on Tuesday, battering share prices in turn.
“The dollar went to ¥83, so the chance of intervention has increased, but it would take more than intervention,” said Kiichi Murashima, an economist at Citigroup Global Markets in Tokyo. “It has to be coupled with easing by the BOJ [Bank of Japan] to have any impact.”
The sharp yen rise and declines in the Nikkei average have made it more likely that the BOJ will further ease its monetary policy before its scheduled rate review on Sept. 6 to Sept. 7, sources said.
However, speculators doubt the BOJ is ready for drastic steps.
“If they really want to do something on the yen ... they have to create inflation expectations,” said Martin Schulz, a senior economist at Fujitsu Research Institute.
“But I don’t think the BOJ would go in that direction,” he said.
The yen has risen nearly 10 percent against the dollar so far this year, with the US currency weighed down by doubts about the US recovery and falling US Treasury yields, along with other global factors that Tokyo has little power to influence.
The Nikkei Shimbun said the ministry would consider intervening unilaterally if its currency rose at a pace of several yen against the dollar in a single day.
The dollar sank as low as ¥83.58 at one point on Tuesday. By midday yesterday, it was around ¥84.40, helped by the Nikkei report.
The euro fell as much as 2.2 percent to ¥105.44 on Tuesday. It was around ¥106.90 yesterday.
Japanese policymakers have tried to stem the yen’s gains with verbal intervention, and Noda expressed Tokyo’s increased irritation with the currency’s climb on Tuesday.
That failed to keep traders from pushing the yen to new highs, and yesterday he toughened his rhetoric.
“When necessary we must respond appropriately,” Noda told reporters when asked about yen moves.
Japan has not acted in the currency market since ending in 2004 a massive yen-selling intervention aimed at keeping a rapid yen rise from deepening deflation and hammering the economy.
Annual growth in Japan’s exports slowed less than expected last month, finance ministry data showed yesterday, due to a pickup in shipments to the US and Europe.
The ministry’s latest figures showed that the value of exports climbed 23.5 percent from a year earlier to ¥5.98 trillion. Exports had expanded 27.7 percent in June and 32.1 percent in May.
The strong yen is responsible for much of the export slowdown, said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital Japan, in a note to clients.
Exports to China, Japan’s trading partner rose 22.7 percent last month, while those to the US were up 25.9 percent. Shipments to the EU expanded 13.3 percent.
Demand for machinery jumped more than 53 percent, and motor vehicle exports expanded 27.1 percent.
Imports last month rose 15.7 percent to ¥5.18 trillion, resulting in a trade surplus of ¥804.2 billion.
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