Japan's Massive Currency Intervention: A 34-Year Low Recovery

Japanese authorities intervened in the currency market, spending 9.79 trillion yen ($62.23 billion) over five weeks to support the yen after it plunged to a 34-year low. The Ministry of Finance provided overall figures without daily breakdowns, suggesting more detailed data will be available by early August.

Japanese authorities spent 9.79 trillion yen ($62.23 billion) intervening in the currency market over the past five weeks to support the yen after it plunged to a 34-year low, official data showed on Friday.

The Ministry of Finance figures cover the period from April 26 through Wednesday, giving a total but not daily breakdowns. More detailed numbers will likely be available in early August.

The yen plummeted to 160.245 per dollar on April 29 before bouncing back sharply over the next few hours in what traders and analysts strongly suspected to have been official yen-buying intervention. A similar sudden out-sized spike was seen on May 1. ($1 = 157.3200 yen)