US President Donald Trump shared his concerns over the yen during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi earlier this week in New York, according to Japan’s finance minister. The yen rose.
“At the recent Japan-US summit, President Trump expressed concern about the weakness of the yen,” Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Friday in a post-cabinet meeting briefing in Tokyo.
In response, Takaichi said that an undervalued yen was problematic, Katayama told reporters. Katayama added that she would continue to coordinate with her US counterpart Scott Bessent.
“US Treasury Secretary Bessent and I will continue to communicate closely on a range of issues, including foreign exchange,” Katayama said.
Trump and Takaichi met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly earlier this week. During that meeting, the two leaders discussed a range of issues, from security and relations with China to Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge in the US.
The yen strengthened to around 158.33 per dollar late morning Friday in Tokyo, from around 158.70 before Katayama spoke.
“This is largely another way of jawboning in my view,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. “Unless it is followed by actual policy coordination, intervention or a clearer BOJ tightening path, I don’t think it changes the underlying yen story materially.”
The US joined Japan in conducting intervention in the currency market in late July to boost the yen.
Katayama spoke after the yen moved back within range of the closely watched 160-per-dollar level following a five-day holiday period in Japan. The currency continued to weaken after both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan raised interest rates last week.
“My understanding is that the BOJ raised the policy interest rate based on its assessment of economic, price, and financial conditions, with the aim of achieving the 2% price stability target in a sustainable and stable manner,” Katayama said.
After raising the policy rate to 1.25% on Sept. 18, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda signaled he was open to further tightening, saying he wouldn’t rule out a back-to-back hike in October or a larger move at some point.
Those signals, however, paled in comparison with hawkish rhetoric surrounding the Fed, whose projections — after a unanimous decision to hike — pointed to at least one more increase this year, prompting traders to price in a 71% probability of another move when the Fed next sets policy on Oct. 28.
Katayama reiterated that she would refrain from commenting on specific currency levels and declined to confirm whether authorities conducted a “rate check” on Friday.
With assistance from John Cheng.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
