Japan spent a record $42.8 billion in October interventions to support the yen

Japan made a record $42.8 billion in foreign exchange interventions to support the yen in October, the Finance Ministry said, as investors looked for clues on how much more the authorities could do to soften the yen's sharp decline.

The 6.3499 trillion yen ($42.8 billion) was broadly in line with estimates by Tokyo money market brokers, who thought Japan could have spent as much as 6.4 trillion yen by making unannounced interventions two trading days in a row. The yen's fall to a 32-year low of 151.94 against the dollar on October 21 probably triggered the intervention, followed by another on October 24. But the amount was almost double the 2.8 trillion yen Tokyo spent last month buying yen and selling dollars for the first time in more than two decades. The last intervention records were set between September 29 and October 27. The interventions helped trigger a sudden drop of more than 7 yen in the dollar on October 21, and on October 24, the dollar fell about 5 yen against the yen, albeit temporarily. The Japanese currency has since come under pressure again. "The big spending on intervention has been effective to some extent," said Daisaku Ueno, chief currency strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE:MUFG) Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Securities. "The way Japan entered the market was a bit inappropriate, as they apparently targeted the weak trading seen late Friday evening and early Monday morning." "This suggests that the Japanese authorities will continue to attack market players selling yen above 150 yen." Follow Global Economic Developments on Social Media! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Facebook account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Instagram account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Twitter account!