Market News

(Bloomberg) -- Japan said it intervened in the currency market three times over the summer to prop up the yen, confirming previously reported actions that included Tokyo's first coordinated operation with the US to support the currency in nearly three decades.

Tokyo bought a daily record of ¥7.98 trillion ($50.4 billion) on July 30 and another ¥5.55 trillion and ¥1.87 trillion in the following days, according to the daily intervention data for last quarter released by the Finance Ministry on Monday. The total amount of ¥15.4 trillion over those three days marked Japan's largest monthly spending on yen-buying intervention.

Japan and the US previously confirmed they had jointly entered the currency market on July 31, their first coordinated operation to support the yen since 1998.

The rare joint operation with Washington had a big impact on the market initially. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the intervention was aimed at countering disorderly movements, adding that they stood ready to act again if necessary.

The joint intervention convinced some market players that the yen's prolonged weakness might have run its course, and Japan's currency eventually strengthened to 152.89 per dollar in early September before paring gains. It was trading around 158.30 Monday morning in Tokyo.