Japan’s top currency official warned that the government would take action if needed in comments that follow a weakening of the yen to its lowest levels since November last year.
“It’s important that currency markets reflect fundamentals and move in a stable manner. Excessive moves aren’t desirable,” Japanese Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Masato Kanda told reporters after the first meeting of the Japanese Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the Financial Services Agency since March. “The government will continue to closely monitor market moves, and will take appropriate responses if necessary.”
The unscheduled meeting came after the yen softened beyond ￥140 per US dollar. Japan intervened in September and October last year to prop up the currency, after a slump that at one point took it past the 150 level.
Photo: Reuters
The meeting took place shortly after 5:30pm local time, and no statements were released.
“On our verbal intervention scale, this is just a two out of seven, with seven being warning of imminent intervention,” said David Forrester, Singapore-based strategist at Credit Agricole, ahead of the meeting. “So today’s meeting is likely to make sure mechanisms are still in place to intervene if needed.”
Markets are nowhere near the level of volatility used to justify intervention last year, he added.
The Japanese currency rallied about 0.5 percent from its intraday low of ￥140.93 per US dollar as news of the meeting broke. It traded at about ￥140.40 per US dollar as of 6:20pm in Tokyo following the meeting.
Representatives from the three key institutions last met on March 17 in response to jitters in the global banking sector following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.
Some analysts have said the yen is close to hitting a bottom against the US dollar, with an improving trade account and higher tourism arrivals offering support, and is unlikely to weaken to levels requiring intervention. The Japanese currency has declined more than 6 percent this year.
“At this point, the government is unlikely to intervene, as stocks have maintained a strong bias amid the weaker yen,” Monex Inc bond and currency trader Tsutomu Soma said. “Investors may become more nervous should the yen fall to around 145.”
Kenneth Broux, head of corporate research for FX and rates at Societe Generale SA, said that FX intervention at current levels was unlikely.
“I think the barrier is higher for active dollar sales,” he said. “This is the start, trying to slow the speed” of yen weakness.
Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank NV, also said the meeting was unlikely to bring about a change in policy, “but it may bring a change in temperature with regard to policy.”
She said the central bank’s July meeting was one to watch for the outlook for developments concerning the BOJ’s yield curve control policy.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
A start-up in Mexico is trying to help get a handle on one coastal city’s plastic waste problem by converting it into gasoline, diesel and other fuels. With less than 10 percent of the world’s plastics being recycled, Petgas’ idea is that rather than letting discarded plastic become waste, it can become productive again as fuel. Petgas developed a machine in the port city of Boca del Rio that uses pyrolysis, a thermodynamic process that heats plastics in the absence of oxygen, breaking it down to produce gasoline, diesel, kerosene, paraffin and coke. Petgas chief technology officer Carlos Parraguirre Diaz said that in
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
SUBSIDIES: The nominee for commerce secretary indicated the Trump administration wants to put its stamp on the plan, but not unravel it entirely US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency in charge of a US$52 billion semiconductor subsidy program declined to give it unqualified support, raising questions about the disbursement of funds to companies like Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). “I can’t say that I can honor something I haven’t read,” Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said of the binding CHIPS and Science Act awards in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “To the extent monies have been disbursed, I would commit to rigorously enforcing documents that have been signed by those companies to make sure we get
RSS