Yen’s Slump in Trade-Weighted Gauge Shows Its Broad-Based Drop

The yen's trade-weighted effective exchange rate has hit fresh record lows, reflecting broad-based weakness against the euro, sterling and several Asian currencies, well beyond its slide against the dollar. The Bank of Japan may need more forceful intervention, with officials open to raising interest rates faster than consensus expects; another rate hike is anticipated in December after June's move to 1 percent. The yen has weakened beyond 163 per dollar, its lowest since 1986, despite approximately 11.73 trillion yen (about 71.9 billion dollars) in intervention between April 28 and May 27.