Yen leaps after joint US-Japan forex intervention, leaving the US dollar bruised
The yen surged more than 3% surge over two trading sessions in the week ended Aug 2
Published Mon, Aug 3, 2026 · 09:48 AM
[SINGAPORE] The yen leapt on Monday (Aug 3), keeping traders on alert for further intervention from authorities to shore up Japan’s historically weak currency, days after Tokyo and Washington jointly intervened in the foreign exchange market.
The currency rose 1 per cent in the Asian morning to an intraday high of 156.01 per US dollar.
That followed a more than 3 per cent surge over two trading sessions in the week ended Aug 2, with Japan’s finance ministry confirming joint yen-buying intervention on Friday.
The yen is quoted at 122.04 per Singapore dollar as at 9.33 am on Monday in Singapore.
Bank of Japan data also showed Japan may have bought as much as US$58.97 billion worth of yen on Thursday.
“History is clear, joint FX intervention packs a punch, and investors should lean with the official flow, not against it,” said Elias Haddad, global head of markets strategy at BBH.
“Since 1998, all three coordinated US FX intervention episodes were successful.”
The yen has been under pressure for years now, undermined by the BOJ’s gradual approach to monetary policy tightening, which has kept yield differentials between Japan and the rest of the world wide.
“Outside of a change in either the policy mix or global growth outlook, we think encouraging repatriation would be the most powerful policy for influencing the currency over a long period of time,” Goldman Sachs analysts said.
“It seems likely that authorities would intervene further in coming days if the yen begins to unwind the recent move.”
The latest bout of yen-buying hammered the US dollar, with the euro rising to a 1½-month high of US$1.1559 early in Asia on Monday, while sterling hovered near a two-week top at US$1.3484.
The US dollar index was little changed at 99.78, having slid more than 1.5 per cent in the week ended Aug 2.
A fall in oil prices also weighed on the greenback, after US President Donald Trump said he had called off an attack on Iran and that talks between the two sides will happen on Monday.
In other currencies, the Australian dollar was up 0.3 per cent at US$0.7042, while the New Zealand dollar advanced 0.13 per cent to US$0.5898.
Investor focus this week will be Friday’s US non-farm payrolls data, for clues on the health of the US labour market and any influence the figures may have on US Federal Reserve policy.
“A still-resilient labour market or signs that disinflation is stalling could increase pressure on the Fed to reinforce its anti-inflation credentials,” OCBC analysts said.
“With two inflation reports and two employment releases due before the September FOMC meeting, incoming data will be pivotal, starting with this week’s payrolls report.” REUTERS
