Investing.com - With the weakening U.S. dollar within striking distance of the 100-yen level, Japan's central bank seems poised to intervene in the currency markets to stem the rise of the yen.
Earlier this month, Japan's finance minister said the yen's recent gains were not abrupt enough to intervene. Market watchers, however, say it is now only a matter of time before it does,
The level of the yen is important to Tokyo because Japan's five-year economic recovery has been helped by strong exports, thanks to the weak yen.
The dollar recently traded below the 106-yen level, down sharply from its 2016 high of 125 yen.
According to BNY Mellon, which see the 100-yen level as a trigger point for action, the Bank of Japan has intervened in the currency markets 329 times since 1991--with limited success.
Currency experts say such efforts to influence the value of a currency may have a temporary impact but hardly ever alter market trends. Intervention is most likely to succeed when a group of central banks, such as those belonging to the Group of Seven, take coordinated action.
Group efforts, however, have become rare. Central banks last staged coordinated market intervention in 2011, but that was when the dollar was hitting record lows against the yen.