US recap: EUR/USD overcomes PMI problems en route to marginal gains

Oct 24 (Reuters) – The dollar index gained 0.18% on Monday, mostly due to the USD/JPY rebounding from another round of suspected Japanese intervention and sterling slipping despite less political instability.

But euro zone nZRN005DP0, UK and US flash October PMI reports featured increasing stagflation, with recession and inflation risks rising simultaneously.

EUR/USD held onto gains of 0.1% after earlier trading up to 0.9899, its highest since Nov. 6, on follow-through risk-on flows from Friday, aided somewhat by tumbling gilts yields weighing on euro zone and US yields.

Gilts yields out to 10-years tumbled nearly 30bp in anticipation of ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak’s Tory leadership victory, which leaves him on a path to become Britain’s next prime minister.

His reputation for fiscal restraint helped gilts rise, because a less expansive fiscal policy in tandem with sharp BoE tightening reduces inflation expectations, but it may also increase recession risk.

The UK’s service sector contracted for the first time in 20 months. Thus, tumbling yields may no longer be supportive for sterling as the gilts yield premia versus Treasurys and bunds from late September has evaporated.

For the oversold dollar to reverse its Fed-led uptrend, top-tier US inflation, growth and labor data would have to signal a clearer pivot from Fed hikes to eventual rate cuts next year.

The S&P Global PMI data has bearishly diverged from the more heavily traded ISM reports, limiting the impact of Monday’s report.

The recent retreat in European nat gas prices toward June’s lows offers the euro some offset from the war in Ukraine, that now include Russia’s “dirty bomb” warnings amid a pitched battle for the highly strategic Kherson province.

USD/JPY gained 0.79%, with suspected Japanese intervention dips still being bought, but another run above 150 seemingly being guarded against by the MoF.

USD/CNH’s risk-off 1.3% rise after the Communist Party’s 20th Congress ended left the Australian dollar and other China-related currencies down sharply as well.

Tuesday brings German Ifo, US house prices and consumer confidence.

(Editing by Burton Frierson; Randolph Donney is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.)

Gold dips as strong US dollar, yields dent appeal

Oct 24 (Reuters) – Gold prices slipped on Monday, weighed down by a firm dollar and elevated US bond yields, while expectations of another hefty rate hike by the Federal Reserve kept investors on the sidelines.

Spot gold fell 0.5% to USD 1,648.60 per ounce by 1:50 p.m. ET (1750 GMT). US gold futures settled 0.1% lower at USD 1,654.10.

The dollar gained 0.2% against its rivals, making greenback-priced bullion more expensive for overseas buyers, while benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hovered near their recent peak.

“The market is still in wait-and-see mode… what will the Fed signal as far as the weakness they’re seeing in the economy… that for the short term should be somewhat supportive for gold,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst with OANDA.

But “inflation is a hard beast to kill. The Fed is going to take its time with these rate hikes before signalling that pivot.”

Markets have priced in a 75-basis-point interest rate hike by the Fed in November, but are now scaling back bets for a similar hike in December after reports that Fed officials will likely debate the size of future increases.

A survey showed US business activity contracted for a fourth straight month in October, the latest evidence of an economy softening in the face of high inflation and rising interest rates.

“Gold could potentially rally to USD 2,250 per ounce in case of a sizable US recession and fall to USD 1,500 per ounce in an ultra-hawkish Fed scenario,” Goldman Sachs said in a note.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising US interest rates, as these increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Elsewhere, spot silver shed 1.1% to USD 19.18 per ounce.

Palladium dropped 2.5% to USD 1,968.58, while platinum slipped 1.3% to USD 919.67.

“Within platinum group metals, we see the biggest downside risks in palladium, which remains elevated despite the lack of physical tightness and long-term demand risk from platinum substitution,” Goldman Sachs added.

(Reporting by Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)

European stocks rise on hopes of Fed pause; eyes on ECB meeting

Oct 24 (Reuters) – European shares rose on Monday on hopes the Federal Reserve could slow its pace of interest rate hikes, while investors welcomed Rishi Sunak’s victory in Britain’s prime ministerial race and looked ahead to a key rate decision from the European Central Bank.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index closed 1.4% up at its highest level in nearly a week, with utilities, media, and travel and leisure sectors leading the gains.

Wall Street’s main indexes rallied on Friday after a report said the Fed would likely debate a smaller rate hike in December.

“While it is encouraging that Fed officials have started to point to an end in sight for rate rises, such a pause will remain conditional on a fading inflation and a cooling labor market. This has yet to be seen in the data,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.

“We believe the full effects of restrictive monetary policy for the economy and corporate profits are not yet well reflected in consensus forecasts – leading to potential disappointments ahead.”

Further boosting sentiment, Sunak looked set to become the Britain’s next prime minister after he won the race to lead the Conservative Party, which analysts said had relieved some of the nervousness around the outlook for the UK economy. Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.6%, while gilts jumped.

“Time will tell how this plays out in the medium to longer term, but in the short run the rapid decision on Sunak is one the market seems to be applauding. At least we’ve checked that box and can move on to other things to be concerned about,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth in New York.

A survey showed euro zone business activity contracted at the fastest pace in nearly two years in October as the cost of living crisis kept consumers cautious and sapped demand.

Focus this week will be on the European Central Bank’s policy meeting where it is likely to hike interest rates by another jumbo 75 basis points as it tries to contain inflation running at five times its target, a Reuters poll found.

Among individual stocks, Dutch technology investor Prosus tumbled 17.3%, tracking weakness in Hong Kong tech giants, after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s newly unveiled leadership team heightened fears that economic growth might be sacrificed for ideology-driven policies.

Asia-focussed insurer Prudential Plc slid 9.3%, while banks HSBC and Standard Chartered fell about 0.6% and 1% respectively.

Philips dipped 1.5% after the Dutch medical equipment maker said it expected to scrap around 4,000 jobs and warned supply chain problems would continue to weigh on sales in the last months of 2022.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Mark Potter)

Oil prices ease on Chinese demand data, stronger dollar

NEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Oil settled lower in choppy trade on Monday as data showing demand from China remained lackluster in September and a strong US dollar weighed, while weakening US business activity data eased expectations for more aggressive interest rate hikes and limited price decline.

Brent crude futures for December delivery settled at USD 93.26 a barrel, down 24 cents, 0.3%, after rising 2% last week. US West Texas Intermediate crude lost USD 84.58 a barrel, losing 47 cents, 0.6%. Both benchmarks had fallen by USD 2 a barrel earlier in the session.

Although higher than in August, China’s September crude imports of 9.79 million barrels per day were 2% below a year earlier, customs data showed on Monday, as independent refiners curbed throughput amid thin margins and lackluster demand.

“The recent recovery in oil imports faltered in September,” ANZ analysts said in a note, adding that independent refiners failed to utilize increased quotas as ongoing COVID-related lockdowns weighed on demand.

Uncertainty over China’s zero-COVID policy and property crisis are undermining the effectiveness of pro-growth measures, ING analysts said in a note, even though third-quarter gross domestic product growth beat expectations.

Ongoing strength in the US dollar, which was up again for part of the trading session following another suspected foreign exchange intervention by Japan, also posed problems for oil prices. A stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for non-US buyers.

“Further dollar strength would weigh on WTI values with a test of our expected downside at the 79.50 mark likely by week’s end,” said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates.

Oil prices regained some ground after data that showed US business activity contracted for a fourth straight month in October, with manufacturers and services firms in a monthly survey of purchasing managers both reporting weaker client demand.

POSITIVE SIGNAL

S&P Global said its flash US Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 47.3 this month from a final reading of 49.5 in September.

That weakening could indicate that the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases to fight inflation have been working and may persuade it to slow its rate hike policies, a positive signal for fuel demand, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures group.

“The miss on the PMI number is a sign that the economy may be slowing a bit, which turns out to be bullish,” Flynn said.

Brent rose last week despite US President Joe Biden announcing the sale of a remaining 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, part of a record 180 million-barrel release that began in May.

Biden added that his aim would be to replenish stocks when US crude is around USD 70 a barrel.

But Goldman Sachs said the stocks release was unlikely to have a large impact on prices.

“Such a release is likely to have only a modest influence (<USD 5/bbl) on oil prices”, the bank said in a note.

(Adttional reporting by Noah Browning and Florence Tan; Editing by Marguerita Choy, David Holmes and Cynthia Osterman)

Dollar sinks vs yen, BOJ intervention suspected ahead of weekend

NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) – The US dollar tumbled against the yen on Friday, logging its biggest daily drop against the Japanese currency in more than two months as traders and strategists said Japanese authorities may be in the market to stem a slide in their battered currency.

The yen rose as high as 144.5 per dollar on Friday, before paring gains to trade up about 1.4% at 148.195, its biggest daily jump since August 10.

“I think it’s intervention,” Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist, at Corpay in Toronto, said.

“We are seeing lots of dollar selling and the yen moving almost vertically as shorts get squeezed,” he said.

The Japanese government and the Bank of Japan conducted yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention in the foreign exchange market, the Nikkei newspaper said early on Saturday, citing a source.

Japan’s Ministry of Finance declined to comment on the matter.

“It’s very clearly the Ministry of Finance stepping in to sell dollar-yen,” said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities in New York.

“They are trying to staunchly defend their very easy policy,” he said.

“A lot of folks had been looking at 150 as a key level that they would see some kind of intervention, and they let it run through to basically 152 and then the timing of their intervention happened at a very illiquid time, basically, as London was about to head home for the weekend, and it seems like it is designed to inflict as much pain as possible on, they like to use the term, speculators,” Issa said.

Earlier on Friday, Japanese finance minister Shunichi Suzuki said authorities were dealing with currency speculators “strictly”, while Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank would closely watch the impact of currency moves.

With Friday’s gains, the yen was on track to snap a nine-week streak of weekly losses against the greenback.

The dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of currencies, was 0.7 % lower at 112.17, down from a three-week high of 113.95, hit during the session.

The greenback came under pressure after a report said some Fed officials have signaled greater unease with big interest rate rises to fight inflation, even as they line up another big rate hike for November.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Fed officials are barreling toward another interest-rate rise of 0.75 percentage point at their November meeting, while some policymakers have begun signaling their desire to slow down the pace of increases soon.

Fed officials are likely to debate then whether and how to signal plans to approve a smaller increase in December, the report said.

The dollar has risen strongly this year helped by the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance and robust demand for safe havens amid continuing uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy gripped by inflation.

Despite its retreat on the Fed headlines, the dollar index remains near a two decade high.

“It’s really hard to bet against the fact that the Fed is going to need to continue to be quite aggressive in its approach going forward,” said Bipan Rai, North American head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets.

“That ultimately means we still see dollar upside,” Rai said.

The weakness in the dollar helped lift sterling 0.2% to USD 1.1261, even as the outlook for the pound remained murky as Britain’s ruling Conservative party gets set to pick the country’s third prime minister in two months after Liz Truss quit on Thursday.

The currency had leapt as much as 1% the previous day after Truss announced her departure.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Additional reporting by John McCrank and Dhara Ranasinghe; Editing by David Gregorio, Kirsten Donovan)

Gold jumps as dollar weakens on Fed rate-hike uncertainty

Oct 21 (Reuters) – Gold prices were on track to gain for the week, rising more than 1% on Friday as the dollar weakened amid reports of a potential debate amongst the US Federal Reserve officials about the pace of rate hikes.

Spot gold was up 1.5% at USD 1,652.21 per ounce by 2:06 p.m. ET (1806 GMT). US gold futures settled up 1.2% to USD 1,656.3.

The WSJ reported that Fed officials were barreling toward another interest-rate rise of 0.75 percentage point in November, while some have begun signaling their desire to slow down the pace of increases soon.

“The Wall Street Journal article which mentions the pace of rate hikes is being given a lot of share of mind for (market)participants,” said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly on Friday said the central bank should avoid putting the US economy into an “unforced downturn” by overtightening, adding that the Fed is nearing a point where it should slow rate hikes.

Gold is sensitive to rising interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion that does not pay interest.

Prices were now up about 0.6% for the week, after rebounding from their lowest level since end-September, touched earlier in the day.

With gold hitting a low, people came in and started buying it, said Michael Matousek, head trader at US Global Investors.

The dollar index gave up earlier gains and slipped 0.6%, making gold less expensive for overseas investors.

On the physical side, demand for gold in India picked up pace this week as some consumers bought into a retreat in domestic prices ahead of festivals.

Elsewhere, spot silver rose 2.7% to USD 19.16 per ounce, platinum gained 1.9% to USD 931.00 while palladium fell 1.8% to USD 2,020.34.

(Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Vinay Dwivedi)

Hedge funds suffer further outflows in Q3, stockpickers lead way

Oct 21 (Reuters) – Investors pulled an estimated $26 billion from hedge funds during the third quarter, according to data provider HFR, jarred by a global stock market plunge, soaring bond yields and geopolitical tensions.

That comes on top of a $27.5 billion outflow in the second quarter, the first time that hedge funds have seen consistent outflows from one quarter to the next since the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020, HFR numbers showed.

According to the data provider, the outflows were driven by a $12.4 billion decline in assets from hedge funds that take bets on the equity markets. However, money flowed out of every kind of hedge fund strategy, even if it was performing well.

MSCI’s World Stock Index is down about 26% so far this year and set for its biggest annual loss since the global financial crisis in 2008.

Major stock indexes continued to slide on Friday while U.S. Treasury yields rose to multi-year highs on expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively pursue inflation with a much tighter monetary policy.

Equity hedge fund strategies that HFR tracks saw $12.4 billion of outflows in the third quarter.

An index of event driven funds, which make bets on company mergers and acquisitions, saw $600 million of outflows during the quarter, HFR data said.

Even hedge funds that have done well and made use of market volatility, like those which trade on macro-economic signals, saw outflows of $10.7 billion despite the fact one HFR index says their perfomance numbers are up over 17% for the year, HFR said.

The biggest hedge funds saw the largest declines in performance and how much money other investors have given them to manage, often combine as a figure called assets under management, HFR said.

Uncertainty would continue into the fourth quarter of the year, said HFR President Kenneth J. Heinz said. He expected that “extreme volatility and the potential for dislocations” would carry through to year end.

(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and Angus MacSwan)

As US Treasuries tumble, some investors say turning point is near

NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Some investors believe Treasury yields are close to peaking, even as markets continue pricing in more hawkishness from a Federal Reserve bent on taming the worst inflation in decades.

It’s a refrain that has been heard more than once in 2022, as a steep selloff in Treasuries steamrolls investors who bet markets would soon reverse, while battering stocks and fueling the dollar’s climb.

The tumble in bonds has intensified in recent days, as US Treasury yields – which move inversely to prices – hit their highest levels since the 2008 global financial crisis on concerns that the Fed would need to raise rates more aggressively to bring down consumer prices.

Meanwhile, fed funds futures late Thursday priced peak US interest rates of 5% in May next year, up from bets this month that saw the rate at 4.4% by that time.

Yet some investors see the Treasury selloff nearing an end, believing the Fed will slow the pace of its increases next year as inflation ebbs or the economy falls into a recession.

John Vail, chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management, expects the Fed to raise rates by 150 basis points in total over the next two months, then start cutting rates in the first half of next year.

“This forecast is dovish after January, which should provide major relief for equity and bond markets,” he said.

Others think higher yields will soon start luring investors into Treasuries. Joachim Fels, a managing director and global economic advisor at US bond giant PIMCO, recently wrote that markets have already priced in future rate increases and “absolute yield levels appear much more attractive than they have for a long time.”

Benchmark 10-year yields were at 4.23% late Thursday while two-year yields were at 4.61%, presenting a more alluring picture for income-seeking investors compared with the beginning of the year, when those yields stood at 1.5% and 0.7% , respectively.

Among those espousing the view of a coming peak in yields is DoubleLine Capital chief executive Jeffrey Gundlach, who on Thursday tweeted that there are “signs of yield increase exhaustion. Treasury yields may well be peaking between now and year-end.”

Fund managers in a recent BofA Global Research survey, meanwhile, are the most bullish on long term bond yields since November 2008, with 38% expecting lower long-term rates in the next 12 months.

Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager, last month told Reuters that US Treasuries are near the end of a painful decline.

Nascent Treasury bulls also point out that many yields are very close to where the Fed has said it believes interest rates will end up next year.

Some investors have been more hesitant to call a peak, citing the Fed’s single-minded focus on bringing down consumer prices, which have proven far more stubborn than many expected this year.

“With inflation so high and still rising, it would be a mistake to assume that central banks will pivot to easing if something indeed breaks,” BoFA’s strategists wrote. “Depending on where they are in their tightening cycle, they may not even pause.”

The Fed has raised rates by 300 basis points so far this year. Fed funds futures traders are pricing in a 95% chance of a 75 basis points hike at the central bank’s Nov. 2 meeting, with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s views on inflation and the economy seen as the next potential catalyst for yield moves.

Futures show traders pricing in a 75% probability of another 75 bps hike in December, according to CME Group data.

Zhiwei Ren, managing director and portfolio manager at Penn Mutual Asset Management, believes yields may subside if the economy enters a recession. But he said persistent labor shortages, broken supply chains and other long-term changes in the global economy are likely to keep inflation elevated.

“Just three months ago I was thinking 3.5% was a great level for the 10-year,” he said. “Now I think the 10-year could go to 5% or even higher over the next few years.”

(Reporting by Davide Barbuscia; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Gerry Doyle)

Oil prices settle up; China demand hopes outweigh recession worry

NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Oil prices settled up on Friday as hopes of stronger Chinese demand and a weakening US dollar outweighed concern about a global economic downturn and the impact of interest rate rises on fuel use.

To fight inflation, the US Federal Reserve is trying to slow the economy and will keep raising its short-term rate target, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker said on Thursday in comments that weighed on oil.

But crude is gaining support from a looming European Union ban on Russian oil, as well as the recent 2 million-barrels-per-day output cut agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+.

Brent crude settled at USD 93.50 a barrel, up USD 1.12, or 1.2%. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) settled atUSD 85.05 a barrel, up 54 cents, 0.6%. During the session, both benchmarks had been down by more than a dollar.

Brent was up by 2% on the week, while WTI fell about 0.7%.

Traders were squaring up positions ahead of the weekend after the WTI’s November contract expiry, increasing volatility.

“The bias is to play the weekend to the long side,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

Swings in the US dollar, which typically moves inversely with oil prices, added to choppy trade.

The dollar eased against a basket of currencies after a report said some Fed officials have signalled greater unease with big interest rate rises to fight inflation, even as they line up another big rate hike for November.

Brent, which came close to its all-time high of USD 147 in March, was on track for a weekly gain of 0.8%, while US crude headed for a loss of about 1.5%. Both benchmarks dropped in the previous week.

Regarding the OPEC+ cut, which was criticized by the United States, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said the producer group was doing the right job to ensure stable and sustainable oil markets.

On Thursday, oil gained after Bloomberg News reported that Beijing was considering cutting the quarantine period for visitors to seven days from 10 days. There has been no official confirmation from Beijing.

“The knee-jerk price action provided a useful glimpse of what to expect once more punitive restrictions are lifted,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM, of the market’s rally after the report.

China, the world’s largest crude importer, has stuck to strict COVID-19 curbs this year, weighing heavily on business and economic activity and reducing demand for fuel.

Meanwhile, the US oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose two to 771 in the week to Oct. 21, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) said.

US oil rigs rose two to 612 this week, their highest since March 2020, while gas rigs were unchanged at 157.

(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler, Florence Tan and Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Susan Fenton and David Gregorio)

Japanese yen jumps as traders suspect intervention

TOKYO/LONDON/NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Japanese authorities likely intervened in markets to stem the slide of the country’s battered currency on Friday, market participants said, following an unexpected jump in the yen against the dollar.

The yen rose as high as 144.50 per dollar on Friday, up more than 7 yen from a 32-year low of 151.94 yen per dollar, touched earlier in the session. The dollar was last down 1.8% at 147.34 yen.

“It’s very clearly the ministry of finance stepping in to sell dollar-yen,” said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities in New York.

Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto, concurred. “We are hearing large blocks are being traded,” he said. “That typically means either larger institutions are moving money or that a central bank is intervening in size. The clearest evidence is just the scale of dollar selling that is happening.”

The Nikkei, citing a source, also said Japan had intervened to buy yen and sell dollars.

Japan’s Ministry of Finance declined to comment.

If confirmed, this would be the second time since September that Japan has intervened in the currency market to shore up the yen.

The currency, down about 22% against the dollar this year, has been battered as the Bank of Japan sticks to an ultra-loose monetary policy, while the US Federal Reserve and other major central banks aggressively raise interest rates.

The falling yen is pushing up import costs and households’ living expenses, piling pressure on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to stop the relentless fall.

WARNING SPECULATORS

While Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has repeatedly ruled out changing the policy stance, policymakers have been vocal with their concerns.

In a speech on Friday, Kuroda stressed the central bank’s resolve to keep rates low. “Uncertainty over Japan’s economic outlook is extremely high,” Kuroda said. “We must closely watch the impact financial and currency market moves could have on Japan’s economy and price.”

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said earlier on Friday that the authorities were dealing with currency speculators “strictly”.

“We cannot tolerate excessive moves by speculators. We will respond appropriately while watching currency market movements with a high sense of urgency,” Suzuki said.

TD’s Issa said the market intervention happened at “a very illiquid time”, when traders in London were headed home for the weekend.

“It seems like it is designed to inflict as much pain as possible on, they like to use the term, speculators,” Issa said.

RARE MOVES

Japan has rarely intervened in currency markets. Before the September intervention, the last time it stepped in to support the currency was during the Asian financial crisis of 1997 to 1998.

It spent up to a record 2.8 trillion yen (USD 19.7 billion) – equivalent to half its annual defence spending – in the intervention last month.

Speculation that Japan would step into the market again had grown over the past week as yen weakened beyond a key psychological level of 150 per dollar on Thursday for the first time since August 1990.

While authorities have denied having a line-in-the-sand in mind, political factors mean they do need to be mindful of defending psychologically important thresholds.

They also look at technical charts for key support levels for the Japanese currency which, if broken, could accelerate its decline.

Some market participants have pointed to the dollar/yen’s July 1990 high above 152 as the next threshold, then 155.

Axel Merk, president of Merk Investments and portfolio manager of the Merk Hard Currency Fund, said he believes there is little to stop the yen from weakening again, for now.

“Ultimately these interventions don’t help that much if the underlying policy is fostering the weak yen,” he said.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Leika Kihara in TOKYO, John McCrank, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Gertrude Chavez and Ira Iosebashvili in NEW YORK and Dhara Ranasinghe in LONDON; Additional reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Sakura Murakami; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Shri Navaratnam, Kirsten Donovan, Diane Craft and Daniel Wallis)

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