Coordinated Market Intervention Lifts Yen and Won

Officials from Japan and South Korea executed a rare, coordinated intervention in the foreign exchange market to buy their respective currencies, helping pull the Japanese Yen away from 40-year lows and strengthening the Korean Won by two percent to a nine-month high. This unprecedented action occurred late Thursday alongside possible US involvement through rate checks, even as the Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged and traders continued testing Tokyo's market resolve on Friday.

Japan's stock market surged on a major semiconductor rally, led by Advantest and SoftBank, while the Bank of Japan held interest rates steady at 1%