Yen Climbs Into the 152-per-Dollar Range for the First Time in Seven Months, With Gains Seen Continuing

The yen has surged into the 152-per-dollar range, reaching a level last seen in February and moving beyond the effect of the currency intervention carried out by the U.S. and Japanese governments at the end of July.

The dollar traded in the upper 152-yen range in international markets on Sept. 8. The yen had weakened back into the 160s late in August after holding relatively steady for nearly a month. It began strengthening again in September and broke through the 155-yen level, which had been viewed as a psychological resistance point.

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U.S. and Japanese authorities are expected to correct the weak yen, while expectations of an accelerated Bank of Japan rate hike have put yen buying in the lead.

The move reflects growing expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise its policy rate at its meeting on Sept. 18. Markets also appear to be responding to expectations that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could intervene directly to address the yen’s weakness, as well as pressure from Washington on Tokyo to resolve the issue.

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I strongly support the Japanese government taking decisive action to respond to the weak yen.

Nikkei reported that yen buying had gained the upper hand because investors expected U.S. and Japanese authorities to correct the yen’s weakness and anticipated a faster pace of Bank of Japan rate increases. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has repeatedly said he strongly supports decisive action by the Japanese government to respond to the weak yen.

There appears to have been no additional intervention by either government so far. Mitsuhiro Ueda, a senior market strategist at Daiwa Securities, told Asahi Shimbun that the yen would have risen much more sharply if the government had intervened, and judged further intervention since late July unlikely.

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If there had been government intervention, the yen would have risen much more sharply.

Some analysts say the yen’s rise may not be temporary because hedge funds and other major market players are closing yen-selling and dollar-buying positions. Takahide Kiuchi, chief economist at Nomura Research Institute, said the yen appeared to have cleared an important hurdle after rising above the level reached during government intervention. He said the trend was confirmed because the yen strengthened despite strong U.S. August employment data and somewhat stronger expectations of another U.S. rate hike.

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The yen appears to have cleared an important hurdle.