TOKYO – The yen surged by 2 per cent against the US dollar, marking its biggest jump since Japanese officials intervened in the market earlier in 2026.The currency sharply advanced as much as 2.6 per cent versus the dollar to 159.21 as 10.05am on July 30 in New York, spurring speculation that officials may once again be propping up the yen.It marks the largest intraday gain for the yen since April and comes as the currency has recently slid to its weakest level in four decades.The currency has remained under pressure even after a record 11.73 trillion yen (S$93.8 billion) intervention by the authorities from April 28 to May 27 to support the yen after it first slid past 160 per dollar.Japan likely drew on its holdings of foreign securities, including US Treasuries, to finance the recent intervention, according to finance ministry reserve data.“The move in USD/JPY is showing classic signs of intervention,” said Noah Buffam, strategist at CIBC Capital Markets.Japanese Finance Ministry officials in Tokyo could not immediately be reached for comment.The yen remains under selling pressure even after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest level since 1995, with investors concerned that it is behind the curve in addressing inflation.At the same time, risk of the Federal Reserve tightening policy in 2026 still lingers, keeping the interest rate gap between the US and Japanese economies unfavourably wide for the yen.The BOJ will release its policy decision on July 31 and is expected to hold rates after the June hike.The move on July 30 followed the Federal Reserve’s own July meeting, at which officials led by chairman Kevin Warsh held borrowing costs steady, in turn whacking the dollar.The “timing would be smart,” said Win Thin, chief economist at Bank of Nassau 1982. “Going with the market instead of against it.”The huge amount spent by Japan in April-May underscores not only how much is at stake for Japan, but also the difficulty involved in pushing back against the tide in the US$9.5 trillion-a-day (S$12.2 trillion) global foreign exchange market.Japan’s top currency official, Atsushi Mimura, in an interview earlier in July with Bloomberg refrained from spelling out the finance ministry’s standard currency stance, including its readiness at any time to take “bold action” – implying intervention.Bouts of intervention in 2022, when Japan intervened to support the yen for the first time since 1998, and again in 2024, helped bring temporary relief before the yen resumed its depreciation trend. Japanese authorities spent around US$100 billion during its campaign in 2024.“The previous FX intervention was conducted on the day following the FOMC meeting,” said Masayuki Nakajima, senior strategist at Mizuho Bank in London. “It is certainly comparable to the magnitude of USD/JPY moves seen during past FX interventions.” BLOOMBERG