Financiers across the globe were disappointed in Japan’s move to counter the rising strength of the yen.
Early this past Wednesday, the dollar relinquished gains in comparison to the yen in Asia, increasing concerns and prompting additional measures to stem the growth. Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda then held a press conference to discuss such measures.
The conference ended with a statement pledging a $100 billion facility dedicated to limiting the yen’s rise by encouraging mergers and acquisitions, as well as providing aid to domestic corporations in securing energy resources. The ministry will also now require currency trading reports from leading financial groups until September.
Investors around the world were unimpressed with the results of the conference, explaining that the measures would have no real impact on the situation and would not be enough to contain the increase.
“They’re hoping to get as much as they can from talk, just ramping up the threat without taking any more steps,” said Sean Callow of Westpac.
Yuji Kameoka of Daiwa Securities added that “The FX market is a global market. It is hard to contain FX movement with only these measures.”