Japan and US buy yen after currency hits 4-decade lows

Japan stepped into currency markets to buy yen and sell dollars after the Japanese currency slid near four-decade lows, with reports indicating the United States also joined the operation. The yen briefly strengthened to 157.24 per dollar in New York on Friday after touching 159.22 a day earlier, its strongest level since mid-May. Reuters reported a photo from a Cabinet meeting showed a note in front of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent listing “Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil.” The Financial Times reported the Federal Reserve Bank of New York sold euros to buy yen for the Treasury, marking the first outright joint yen-support operation by Tokyo and Washington in nearly 30 years. Japanese officials declined to confirm the intervention publicly.