Japanese Yen rises sharply against Euro after Takaichi's latest intervention warning
- The Japanese Yen has registered wider upticks against its major currency peers.
- Japan’s PM Takaichi warned that the administration could intervene in forex markets at any time.
- BoJ’s Ueda reaffirms that the monetary policy direction is on the upside.
The Japanese Yen (JPY) reflects a sudden jump against its major currency peers in the European trading session on Wednesday. There is a noticeable uptick in the Asia-Pacific currency against its peer, pushing EUR/JPY over 0.3% down to near 185.40.
Japanese Yen Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies today. Japanese Yen was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.16% | 0.13% | -0.08% | 0.12% | 0.21% | 0.46% | 0.23% | |
| EUR | -0.16% | -0.04% | -0.24% | -0.05% | 0.05% | 0.29% | 0.07% | |
| GBP | -0.13% | 0.04% | -0.19% | 0.00% | 0.08% | 0.31% | 0.10% | |
| JPY | 0.08% | 0.24% | 0.19% | 0.18% | 0.27% | 0.49% | 0.29% | |
| CAD | -0.12% | 0.05% | 0.00% | -0.18% | 0.10% | 0.34% | 0.11% | |
| AUD | -0.21% | -0.05% | -0.08% | -0.27% | -0.10% | 0.23% | 0.00% | |
| NZD | -0.46% | -0.29% | -0.31% | -0.49% | -0.34% | -0.23% | -0.21% | |
| CHF | -0.23% | -0.07% | -0.10% | -0.29% | -0.11% | 0.00% | 0.21% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent JPY (base)/USD (quote).
The move in the Japanese Yen seems supported by verbal intervention from the country's top officials, as it is still unclear whether full intervention from the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has occurred. While there has been no confirmation, a report from NHK stated that Japan’s Prime Minister (PM) Sanae Takaichi said the government “will respond appropriately any time on Forex”.
Several Japanese officials have stated in the past few weeks that an intervention is highly likely, but never referred to any significant level.
Japan’s Finance Minister (FM) Satsuki Katayama also warned last week that authorities could intervene in the foreign exchange market in the event of excessive volatility or speculative trading activity.
Meanwhile, hawkish commentary from Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda during the European trade regarding the monetary policy outlook might also have offered support to the Yen’s sharp uptick. “Our basic stance is to continue raising policy rate in accordance with economic, price, financial developments,” Ueda said.
The Ministry of Finance declined to comment when asked if the sudden jolt in the yen was the result of intervention, Reuters reports.
Bank of Japan FAQs
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is the Japanese central bank, which sets monetary policy in the country. Its mandate is to issue banknotes and carry out currency and monetary control to ensure price stability, which means an inflation target of around 2%.
The Bank of Japan embarked in an ultra-loose monetary policy in 2013 in order to stimulate the economy and fuel inflation amid a low-inflationary environment. The bank’s policy is based on Quantitative and Qualitative Easing (QQE), or printing notes to buy assets such as government or corporate bonds to provide liquidity. In 2016, the bank doubled down on its strategy and further loosened policy by first introducing negative interest rates and then directly controlling the yield of its 10-year government bonds. In March 2024, the BoJ lifted interest rates, effectively retreating from the ultra-loose monetary policy stance.
The Bank’s massive stimulus caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers. This process exacerbated in 2022 and 2023 due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks, which opted to increase interest rates sharply to fight decades-high levels of inflation. The BoJ’s policy led to a widening differential with other currencies, dragging down the value of the Yen. This trend partly reversed in 2024, when the BoJ decided to abandon its ultra-loose policy stance.
A weaker Yen and the spike in global energy prices led to an increase in Japanese inflation, which exceeded the BoJ’s 2% target. The prospect of rising salaries in the country – a key element fuelling inflation – also contributed to the move.
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