Japan may have spent $35 billion in yen-buying intervention, Bank of Japan data shows

Japan may have spent as much as 5.48 trillion yen ($35 billion) bolstering its embattled currency, central bank data indicated on Friday, following reports that Tokyo intervened on Thursday to arrest a sharp selloff in the yen.

The Bank of Japan's projection for money market conditions on May 7, the next market day after a stretch of domestic holidays, indicated a 9.48 trillion yen net outflow of funds.

Major money market firms had forecast a drawdown of between 4 trillion yen and 4.5 trillion yen.

Yen-buying activity involves the BOJ soaking up yen from markets, so any outsized shortfalls in funds can offer potential clues as to how much was spent on any intervention.

Japan intervened to support the yen against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, in its latest attempt to halt a slide exacerbated by a spike in oil prices linked to the Iran war.

Prior to that, Japan's most recent intervention happened in July 2024, when it spent about $36.8 billion to bolster the yen after it sank to a 38-year low of 161.96 per dollar.

($1 = 156.5500 yen)

-Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Alexander Smith/Reuters