Yen Watchers Ask When Japan Will Step In as Slide Accelerates

  • Yen slides past 160 for first time since 1990 on Monday
  • Japan has said pace of declines matters more than levels

The currency fell 1.7% that day, the most in six months, to around 158.30 per dollar.

Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg
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The yen has tumbled well past levels touted as red lines for Japan and at a pace that has traders asking when authorities might start buying the currency to support it — and why they haven’t done so already.

The yen fell past 160 per dollar for the first time since 1990 on Monday in thin liquidity during a public holiday in Japan, after the nation’s central bank last week indicated financial conditions will remain easy.