On July 31, 2026, local time, United States President Donald Trump held a cabinet meeting at Camp David in Maryland.
During the conference live shooting session, a Reuters journalist captured an open notebook behind Bennet of the US Treasury Department. The notebook had the words "To-Do List" written on it, followed by the phrase "Buy Japanese Yen worth $5-10 billion".
A spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this matter, nor did he respond to whether the Treasury Department would intervene to support the yen against the dollar on Friday.
Two hours before photography session, Reuters citing a source close to the matter reports that the US Treasury Department has notified multiple banks that it may intervene in the Japanese Yen market on Friday.
Late on Friday afternoon, the Japanese yen seemed to experience another significant appreciation against the US dollar. Data from the London Stock Exchange Group showed that the exchange rate of the US dollar dropped from around 158.9 yen to around 157.6 yen, a decrease of approximately 0.8%.
According to reports from the Japan Keizhou and the Nikkei, on July 30th, the yen exchange rate surged in the New York foreign exchange market. The yen exchange rate reached 157.97 yen per US dollar, setting a record high for the yen's appreciation and the dollar's depreciation since mid-May. This marks a two-and-a-half-month period of appreciation for the yen and a decline for the dollar.
Starting at 9:30 a.m. on July 30, Eastern Time in the United States (9:30 p.m. Beijing Time, 10:30 p.m. Japan Time), the Japanese yen began to appreciate rapidly. In just 50 minutes, the exchange rate rose from around 162.80 yen per US dollar to 157.80 yen, an appreciation of about 5 yen. According to market sources, the Japanese government carried out large-scale intervention by buying yen.
After that, the yen once returned to the range of 159.5-159.9 yen, but it sharply rose again to the range of 158.5-158.9 yen after 1 p.m. The reason is that, according to instructions from the U.S. Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve Bank in New York conducted a rate check by asking several banks about the exchange rates at which currencies were traded. This indicates that Japan and the United States have taken joint action to curb the depreciation of the yen.
According to the Nikkei Asian Review, it is extremely rare for Japan and the United States to intervene in exchange rates at the same time. The Nikkei Asian Review sought confirmation from the U.S. Treasury Department regarding this matter, but has yet to receive a response.
However, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in an interview with Fox Business Channel on the 30th: "The Japanese yen seems to be severely undervalued. The market will probably realize that the yen should be stronger." He also said he was not worried about the upward trend of the yen against the dollar.
