The yen was pinned near four-decade lows on Friday, with markets on heightened intervention watch as neither a US-Iran peace deal nor a rate hike in Japan managed to arrest its prolonged slide.The Japanese currency edged up 0.2 percent against the US dollar at 161.12 yen, steadying after dropping to a two-year low on Thursday, though holidays in the US and much of Asia kept liquidity thin.
Most other currencies were little changed as shipping in the Strait of Hormuz returned to normal after the signing of the US-Iran peace deal earlier this week, though question marks remain over whether the truce will hold.
The British pound was steady at $1.3202 after Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham triumphed in a by-election in Makerfield, setting the stage for a likely challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the leadership of the ruling Labour Party.
But the Japanese currency has found little relief even after the Ministry of Finance's dollar-selling intervention earlier this year and the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates to a 31-year high this week. Concerns around the spending plans of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi have undermined investor confidence and prompted speculation that more intervention could follow.
