Japan to announce that Tokyo and Washington took joint action to support the yen, Reuters reports

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama will announce on Monday that Tokyo and Washington have taken joint action in the currency market to combat the yen's slide to record lows, according to two Japanese government officials speaking to Reuters. The two countries expressed their determination to counter what they consider to be excessive yen declines, on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue.

Katayama's currency diplomat, Atsushi Mimura, stated that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) were working closely to address the weak yen.

The expected joint action follows rounds of yen-buying by Japanese and U.S. authorities, marking the first joint intervention since 2011. The intervention was said to be aimed at boosting the Japanese currency from its lowest levels against the dollar since 1986. Japanese authorities purchased yen for dollars in New York trading hours on Thursday, with data suggesting that the Bank of Japan sold as much as $58.97 billion to support the yen.

The initial intervention came hours before the BOJ decided to keep monetary policy steady while signaling a strong likelihood of an interest rate hike soon.

The widening rate differential between Japan and the U.S., with the Federal Reserve adopting a more hawkish stance, has been a significant factor in the dollar's rise against the yen. Following the BOJ's decision, the yen spiked, suggesting another possible intervention by Tokyo. Market sources say that the Japanese and U.S. authorities have been standing ready for future action, with the U.S. Treasury informing banks that it may intervene in the yen market.