Japan spent a record 4.5129 trillion yen ($58.8 billion) in currency intervention this month, Ministry of Finance data showed on Wednesday, more than double the previous daily record for its yen-selling intervention.
Although the amount was in line with market estimates of around 4.46-4.66 trillion yen, it was much bigger than the 2.125 trillion yen of selling on September 16 last year, the previous daily record.
Japan's intervention on August 4 boosted the dollar to above 80 yen from around 77 yen, but it quickly lost ground. The U.S. currency hit a record low of 75.941 yen on Aug. 19 and traded at about 76.56 yen [JPY=X 76.82
0.16 (+0.21%) 
] on Wednesday.New prime minister Yoshihiko Noda directed the intervention as finance minister at the time, prompting traders to think Japan will remain ready to intervene if the dollar falls further below the record low.
It was a unilateral action, however, unlike in March when Group of Seven (G7) countries conducted their first joint intervention for more than a decade after the yen soared on risk-aversion following Japan's earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent nuclear crisis.
The MOF data does not specify which currencies were bought and sold or the date on which intervention was conducted. But market players said intervention took place only on August 4 and only in the dollar/yen.
The amount of Japan's yen selling is equal to nearly 1 percent of the Japanese economy, and almost 5 percent of its regular national budget.
But many market players think intervention has only a limited impact on a market in which roughly $4 trillion changes hands every day.
CNBC
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