Japan likely refrained from intervening in foreign exchange markets to prop up the yen late Tuesday, according to a calculation based on projected central bank figures and estimates by private money brokers.
Unlike last year’s massive yen buying operations in September, when there were noticeable discrepancies in Bank of Japan current account figures compared with private sector estimates of government fund flows, the central bank’s initial projections for its balance ahead of a report on Thursday are in line with forecasts.
The early figures, released Wednesday evening in Tokyo, suggest that Japan didn’t step into markets after it crossed the 150 mark against the dollar.
Among other possible explanations for the sharp surge that briefly strengthened the currency are a combination of jittery markets and trading algorithms responding to the yen’s slide through the key 150-per-dollar threshold.
A rate check by the cen