By Ronnie Harui
Asian currencies mostly strengthened against the dollar as the yen appreciated on growing prospects of a coordinated intervention in the foreign-exchange market by the U.S. and Japan.
The Malaysian ringgit and the Singapore dollar firmed to multiyear highs against the dollar on Monday. The U.S. dollar slipped 0.9% to 3.9670 ringgit after earlier touching 3.9650 ringgit, the lowest intraday level since 2018, LSEG data showed. The U.S. dollar was recently 0.3% lower at S$1.2680 after hitting S$1.2674, the weakest level since 2014. It fell 0.4% to 1,440.71 against the Korean won and declined 0.2% to 16,775 versus the Indonesian rupiah.
The moves came as U.S. and Japanese authorities last week signaled they were ready to step in to prop up the yen, prompting the dollar to post its largest one-day percentage decline against the Japanese currency since August. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reached out to potential trading counterparties at the direction of the Treasury Department on Friday for so-called rate checks, The Wall Street Journal reported. Rate checks are inquiries about available pricing and can precede direct intervention in currency markets.
"The odds of coordinated Fed-[Ministry of Finance] FX intervention have risen notably following Friday's rate-check reports," State Street Investment Management's Masahiko Loo said in an email. "Historically, MOF rate checks are a precursor to action. Failure to follow through would embolden speculative pressure as markets actively test official resolve by pushing further against the yen," the senior fixed-income strategist wrote.
Japanese government officials, including Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, have also recently expressed discomfort with the yen's depreciation to an 18-month low against the dollar in mid-January.
Takaichi said Monday that the government will take necessary measures against speculative market moves, while continuing to stress that she is mindful of fiscal sustainability.
The dollar extended losses against the yen on Monday, falling 1.0% to 154.22 after earlier touching 153.79, the lowest intraday level since November, LSEG data showed.
There are some "observations to note from Friday's yen strength, including the negative spillover to the broad dollar," Paul Mackel, global head of forex research at HSBC, said in an email. The negative impact on the greenback has buffered emerging-market currencies, he said.
Write to Ronnie Harui at ronnie.harui@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 26, 2026 02:32 ET (07:32 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
