Tag - yen

 
 

YEN

Former Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Tatsuo Yamasaki previously warned of the possibility of a looming currency intervention two days before Japan entered markets in September 2022.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 3, 2024
Ex-finance official who warned of Japan's 2022 yen intervention sounds alarm
"Officials wouldn’t have issued such strong warnings unless they were prepared.” said Tatsuo Yamasaki, a former vice minister overseeing the yen.
Hundreds lined up at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, which came to Japan for a 50-day exhibition.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Apr 1, 2024
Japan Times 1974: Some troubles reported at Mona Lisa's opening
Fifty years ago, a woman made a statement on the rights of the physically disabled by splashing paint on the Mona Lisa in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 29, 2024
Japan brought forward emergency yen meeting to maximize market impact, source says
Meeting like these are considered a sign Tokyo is moving closer to intervening in the currency market.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 27, 2024
Yen slides to 34-year low, heightening talk of intervention
Although the Bank of Japan hiked rates for the first time in 17 years last week, the yen’s weakness has persisted.
Signs of a decline in hedging demand suggest that local investors are less concerned the yen will rebound sharply.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 26, 2024
Lower hedging costs reveal Japan investors' confidence in weak yen bets
Three-month yen basis swaps, which indicate decreasing demand for hedging the more they rise, closed last week at their highest level since January 2022.
Masato Kanda, vice finance minister for international affairs, is warning against speculative moves in the foreign exchange market as the yen continues to fall.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2024
Japan’s currency chief warns against speculative moves in market
"The current weakening of the yen is not in line with fundamentals and is clearly driven by speculation,” Masato Kanda said.
Hedge funds have been consistently short the yen since 2021, according to CFTC, with the trade remaining popular in recent months on expectations that the BOJ’s pursuit of policy normalization will nonetheless remain accommodative.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 23, 2024
Hedge funds boost bearish yen bets after BOJ’s dovish hike
The yen fell more than 1% against the dollar following the conclusion of the central bank’s meeting Tuesday, and is now set for a second weekly drop.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 21, 2024
Nikkei scales record high; yen rebounds as Fed out-doves BOJ
The Nikkei marked a record closing high of 40,815.66, up more than 2% on the day, after also setting a fresh all-time intraday peak of 40,823.32.
The Bank of Japan's recent decision to abandon negative interest rates is seen more as a symbolic shift.
COMMENTARY
Mar 21, 2024
BOJ finally ditches negative rates, but this is no liftoff
It's the end of an era for the Bank of Japan as negative interest rates are phased out.
Call loan brokers at Tokyo Tanshi in Tokyo in November. After decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero, the Bank of Japan is poised to tighten, spurring new opportunities for veteran traders after decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 17, 2024
Japan’s $4 trillion offshore funds will ignore first BOJ hike
Only 40% of 273 respondents said the BOJ's first interest-rate hike since 2007 will prompt investors to sell foreign assets and repatriate the proceeds.
Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan, speaks at a fintech summit in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2024
Bank of Japan leaning toward exiting negative rates in March
Many BOJ policymakers are closely watching the outcome of big firms' annual wage negotiations with unions on March 13.
An electronic board shows the rate of the yen versus the U.S. dollar in Tokyo on Feb. 26.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 2, 2024
Yen’s carry-trade reign in flux as BOJ hints at policy shift
As speculation builds that the BOJ will change its path, so does the potential for the yen to strengthen.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 29, 2024
Japan issues fresh warning against excessive yen moves
The warning by Masato Kanda, Japan's vice finance minister for international affairs, likely reflects Tokyo's desire to prevent further falls in the yen.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki (left) speaks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a plenary session of the Lower House in Tokyo on Jan. 30.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 17, 2024
Japan finance chief eyes future rise in interest rates, report says
"The Bank of Japan holds jurisdiction over monetary policy. But there will be a phase when interest rates go up," Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Friday that the BOJ will examine the possibility of easing measures when price targets are met.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 16, 2024
BOJ's Ueda maintains pledge to review stimulus when inflation goal met
Data released on Thursday showed Japan's economy unexpectedly slipped into a recession in the final quarter of last year.
No politicians, government officials, bankers or business leaders have voiced strong opposition to Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda's intention to put an end to the world’s last negative rate regime.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2024
Lack of political opposition opens way for BOJ rate hike
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is in a rare sweet spot for such a move, in sharp contrast to the experiences of his BOJ predecessors.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 14, 2024
Yen's slide past ¥150 per dollar prompts stern warnings from Japan
The yen has tumbled more than 6% versus the dollar so far in 2024.
Japan’s latest growth figures are set to confirm it slipped to become the world's fourth-largest economy last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2024
Japan GDP set to confirm slip to world’s fourth-largest economy
Figures for the calendar year are almost certain to show the value of output falling behind Germany’s in dollar terms.
This year was set to be a tumultuous one for global markets, with unpredictable swings as economic fortunes diverge and voters in more than 50 countries go to the polls. But there’s one unforeseen reversal already underway: a change in perception among investors about China and Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 26, 2024
As China’s markets stumble, Japan soars toward record highs
China has not struggled for economic growth like Japan, but a protracted property market collapse has shredded consumer and investor confidence.
Foreign tourists at a duty-free counter in a department store in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2024
Duty-free sales at Japan department stores hit record high in 2023
The rise reflected the weak yen, as well as an increase in the number of foreign visitors to Japan.

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Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan