Japan and the United States jolted the yen out of a historic slide. US and global stocks keep pressing toward records.
The US dollar versus the yen (JPY=X) fell from nearly 164 to as low as 155 after Japan acted Thursday and coordinated with the United States on Friday. (Because the below chart tracks dollars per yen, a falling line means the yen is strengthening.)
Japanese and US authorities intervene to weaken the dollar vs the yen · Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace
It was the first joint currency intervention since 2011 and the first time the US had stepped in to strengthen the yen since 1998.
Japan kept interest rates near zero for decades while rates elsewhere moved much higher. That gap pushed money toward higher-yielding currencies and steadily weakened the yen.
Now Japanese rates are rising and the currency is adjusting, leaving authorities to manage the transition without allowing it to become disorderly. The US 10-year Treasury (^TNX) still yields about 1.8 percentage points more than its Japanese counterpart, but that gap has been cut roughly in half since early 2025.
The shock reached Japanese companies Monday. As of the US close on Monday, shares of Toyota (TM), Sony (SONY), and Honda (HMC) and several Japanese banks had fallen. Financial services company Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG) finished higher before turning lower early Tuesday.
Heat map of Japanese stocks. · Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace
The broader market is moving the other way.
The S&P 500 rose for three straight sessions into Monday’s close and hit an intraday record early Tuesday — its first in two months. Global stocks remain near records, and even the battered chip sector has rallied to a one-week high since Wednesday.
Bonds offer the clearest warning. The 30-year Treasury yield broke to its highest level since 2007 Friday, but has since retreated.
The yen bears watching alongside US long bonds, but global stocks are setting the tone on risk. As long as they keep pushing toward records,…
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