US Treasury: Banks Alerted on Yen Intervention

US Treasury directed banks through the New York Fed to stand ready for yen market intervention today, marking the first potential US action since 2011 and following Japan's record $53 billion single-day defense that lifted the yen toward its largest weekly gain since February. Markets sold off on the Reuters report as a stronger yen threatens to unwind the carry trade holding hundreds of billions in cheap yen funding behind US stocks and Bitcoin. Rate checks preceded the alert, with coordinated moves now eyed after solo Japanese interventions repeatedly failed to hold the line against four-decade lows.