Japan stepped in to buy one-day record 7.98 tril. yen in July: gov't data

On July 30, Japan made history by purchasing a staggering 7.98 trillion yen ($50.4 billion) in the foreign exchange market to bolster its currency, as reported by the Finance Ministry. This single-day intervention marked the largest ever recorded. In total, Japan engaged in 15.4 trillion yen worth of interventions that day alone, specifically targeted at supporting the yen against the U.S. dollar on July 30, 31, and August 3, according to foreign exchange intervention operation data for the July-September quarter.

On July 31, Japan joined forces with the United States in a historic joint intervention to buy yen for the first time in 28 years. Japan contributed 5.55 trillion yen to this collaborative effort, as outlined in the data. The interventions were prompted by the yen's sharp decline to the upper 163 range against the dollar in late July, a historic low not seen in 39 years and eight months.

This drastic drop in value prompted authorities to take unprecedented action on an unusually large scale. The previous record for yen-buying interventions stood at a more modest 6.28 trillion yen, which was achieved on April 30.