[MARKET UPDATE] JPY continues to strengthen with USD/JPY falling beneath the 156.00 handle following confirmation of US-Japan joint intervention on the currency last Friday

Coordinated intervention between Washington and Tokyo is the rarer and more consequential variant of yen support: unilateral Japanese operations have historically produced sharp but often temporary retracements, with the pair tending to retrace toward prior levels once the flow effect faded, whereas joint action has carried more durable signalling weight because it implies US tolerance for a softer dollar rather than mere acquiescence in Tokyo's sales. The distinction worth drawing is between the mechanical effect of actual dollar sales against yen, which is finite and visible in the fix and in MoF data, and the signalling effect on positioning, which compresses the short-yen carry trade more persistently. The follow-ons in past episodes have been the size and frequency of subsequent operations, verbal escalation from officials on both sides, and whether the US side frames this as a one-off or an open-ended stance. Japanese authorities in this position have typically acted in tranches around psychologically important handles, and each round has tended to produce diminishing moves unless backed by rate differentials moving in the yen's favour. The carry and the BoJ-Fed policy gap remain the underlying anchor; intervention of this kind has historically bought time rather than reversed trends on its own.