TOKYO: Japan's top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said on Friday that speculation remains rife, a blunt warning that Tokyo is ready to step back into markets after intervening just hours earlier to prop up the embattled yen.
The ramped-up rhetoric comes as the yen stays under pressure from wide U.S.-Japan interest rate gaps and ahead of a holiday stretch that officials fear could invite aggressive speculative attacks.
"I won't comment on what we'll do ahead. But I will tell you that Japan's Golden Week holidays have just started," Mimura told reporters when asked whether Tokyo could intervene in the currency market.
His remarks followed Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama's warning on Thursday that "decisive action" was approaching. She also urged reporters to keep their smartphones on hand throughout the holidays, a pointed signal of Tokyo's readiness to intervene and deter speculators from exploiting thin liquidity to push the yen lower.
Hours later, Japan stepped into the market to support the yen, its first official currency intervention in nearly two years, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, sending the Japanese currency higher by as much as 3%.
Mimura declined to comment on whether Japan intervened in the currency market on Thursday.
When asked whether currency moves remained speculative, Mimura said: "There's no change to my view on markets."
Japan remains in "extremely close contact" with the U.S., Mimura said, adding that both countries agree action may be needed depending on market developments.
After surging to 155.5 per dollar after the intervention on Thursday, the yen trimmed some gains and stood at 156.99, still above the 160 mark seen as authorities' line in the sand for currency intervention.
Before the latest action, Japan last stepped into the currency market in July 2024, buying yen after it hit a 38-year low of 161.96 per dollar.
Japanese markets will be closed on Monday through Wednesday for Golden Week, which could cause wild swings in the yen due to thin liquidity, analysts say.
The slow pace of rate hikes by the Bank of Japan has been one of the factors behind a weak yen. Even the BOJ's hawkish signals on Tuesday failed to provide lasting support, as the dollar gained on market bets that mounting inflationary pressures will keep the U.S. Federal Reserve from cutting rates.
"The yen will remain under downward pressure on inflation concerns from high oil prices, slow BOJ rate hikes and the hawkish tone of other central banks," said Rinto Maruyama, FX and rates strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities.
Mimura has also previously flagged the possibility of Japan intervening in crude oil futures on concerns that market volatility was spilling over into yen moves.
"We have conditions in place and are always ready to take action," Mimura told reporters when asked about volatile moves in the crude oil futures market. - Reuters
