Unexpectedly Strong US-Japan Cooperation against Weak JPY: FT reports US conducted coordinated JPY-buying intervention for the first time since June 1998

Research evidence excerpt

Unexpectedly Strong US-Japan Cooperation against Weak JPY: FT reports US conducted coordinated JPY-buying intervention for the first time since June 1998

J P M O R G A N Global Markets Strategy

03 August 2026

Unexpectedly Strong US-Japan

Cooperation against Weak JPY

FT reports US conducted coordinated JPY-buying

intervention for the first time since June 1998

• Japan’s MOF appears to have conducted yen-buying intervention again on July Japan Markets Research

AC 31, following intervention on the 30th. It is highly likely that this year’s total Junya Tanase

intervention amount has already far exceeded the 2024 amount of JPY 15 (81-3) 6736-1270

trillion. junya.tanase@jpmorgan.com

JPMorgan Securities Japan Co., Ltd.

• In addition, the FT reported that US authorities carried out coordinated Patrick R Locke

yen-buying intervention for the first time since June 17, 1998. (1-212) 834-4254

• Historically, coordinated intervention has only been conducted during crises; patrick.r.locke@jpmchase.com

we had viewed the likelihood of such action under current conditions as low. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

However, the cooperative posture of US and Japanese authorities to

prevent yen depreciation appears to be considerably stronger than we had

expected.

• The US yen-buying intervention on June 17, 1998, was not large and was

conducted only once. In the weeks after the coordinated intervention, USD/

JPY rose to pre-intervention levels, but no additional interventions (including

Japan’s unilateral intervention) were carried out.

• According to FT’s reporting, this time the US yen-buying appears to have

been conducted not against USD but against EUR. This suggests that the

purpose of US intervention was to support Japan’s efforts to prevent yen