NEW YORK - The Japanese yen briefly surged to the lower 157 level against the U.S. dollar in New York on Friday, with Japanese government sources confirming a yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention by currency authorities.
Trading at 157.24 per dollar for a brief span, the yen hit its strongest level since mid-May.
Reuters reported a photo taken during a meeting of President Donald Trump's Cabinet showed a to-do list in front of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicating U.S. purchases of $5 billion to $10 billion worth of Japanese yen.
The photo, taken over Bessent's shoulder by a Reuters photographer, shows a Camp David notepad with "To Do" underlined followed by "Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil."
Japanese authorities stepped in again, after the yen soared to the 157 range against the dollar Thursday, gaining almost 5 yen from nearly four-decade lows, a move later confirmed by market and government sources as the result of a massive currency intervention by Japan.
The U.S. Treasury also intervened in the market on Friday, with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York selling euros to buy yen on behalf of the Treasury, the Financial Times reported, marking the first joint efforts by Tokyo and Washington to support the Japanese currency via outright purchases in nearly 30 years.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama declined to comment earlier Friday on whether Japanese authorities had intervened but told reporters, "We are always acting with vigilance."
Bessent said in a TV interview Thursday that the Japanese yen "seems very undervalued."
