Market News
Yen surges on possible intervention, sterling hits one-year high - REUTERS
- Traders suspect Bank of Japan intervention
- Pound hits 1-yr high vs dollar
- Dollar index falls to four-month low
NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - The yen rose sharply on Wednesday in a move that sparked speculation as the result of another intervention from Japanese officials to support the long-battered currency from multi-decade lows.
The yen has posted several outsized moves in recent days, appreciating sharply on Thursday and Friday from 38-year lows of 161.96 per dollar, sudden rallies which market participants said had the signs of currency intervention.
Bank of Japan data released on Tuesday suggested Tokyo may have spent 2.14 trillion yen ($13.5 billion) intervening on Friday. Combined with the estimated amount spent on Thursday, Japan is suspected to have bought nearly 6 trillion yen via intervention last week.
"The fact that the move is bigger than it is elsewhere seems like it points to intervention of some sort, but the timing doesn't really make sense, it seems to be coming out of the blue as opposed to triggered by a move in volatility or a move in the spot rate," said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto.
"Potentially we are in a situation in which traders are trigger-happy, given the fact that the Bank of Japan is looming in the background and that is exacerbating underlying moves. But as it stands it is hard to tell if there is actually any intervention going on here; we're not seeing flow data that would suggest that it is intervention at this point."
Market participants also cited comments from Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump on the recent strength of the dollar in a Bloomberg interview published on Tuesday as a possible cause for weakness in the dollar.
Against the Japanese yen , the dollar weakened .32% at 156.25 after falling to as low as 156.09, a level not seen since June 12. Japan's Ministry of Finance did not respond to requests for comment. Japan's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said he would have to respond if speculators caused excessive moves and there was no limit to how often authorities could intervene, Kyodo News reported.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was also weaker on the day, down 0.43% at 103.76 after hitting a four-month low of 103.64, as comments from several Federal Reserve officials indicated the central bank was getting closer to cutting interest rates.
