Mingze Wu, Foreign Exchange Trader at StoneX Financial, shared his experience during one of the yen’s most volatile days in recent history on Monday, April 29th. The yen plunged by more than 1% in early trading before rallying by more than 2% by around 1 p.m. in Singapore, with traders struggling for answers.
“It’s like everyone was scrambling to find out what’s going on, but everyone’s almost clueless,” said Wu. “It’s like watching a car-wreck that you’re just driving by.”
The shock occurred when the yen dropped to around 160 per dollar earlier in Asia trading – the weakest level against the dollar since 1990. The subsequent price surge upward occurred amid suspicion that Japanese authorities intervened in the market to prop up the currency. Liquidity was also thin due to Japan’s Golden Week holiday, potentially amplifying any exogenous influence and further intensifying anxiety among traders.
Japan's vice-minister of finance for international affairs at Japan's Ministry of Finance, Masato Kanda, stated that the moves were “speculative, rapid and abnormal” but declined to comment when asked if authorities had intervened in the markets.
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