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Japan and the U.S. warned dealers as Treasuries sold off
The U.S. Treasury warned dealers it could trade to support the yen, amid month-end positioning and a pre-jobs-report sell-off.
A sharp move lower in U.S. Treasuries on Friday was driven largely by currency intervention related to Japan’s yen support, Mortgage News Daily reports. The outlet says much of the selling appears tied to Japanese actions rather than typical bond-market factors.
Mortgage News Daily adds that Japan confirmed it was selling foreign bonds to help support yen values, and that the U.S. Treasury also warned dealers it could make trades to support the yen. The outlet notes it is not clear how much the Treasury warning signaled beyond the use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund for currency-related transactions.
According to Mortgage News Daily, the net effect appeared to help set conditions for U.S. accounts to sell Treasuries first and address other considerations later. The move also coincided with month-end flows and the week before the jobs report, with trading volume described as fairly light relative to the size of the sell-off.
The outlet cautions that it is not necessarily the final chapter in the episode, implying more developments could follow.