The yen strengthened sharply in New York trading on the morning of the 19th, with the dollar-yen pair at 158.50–60 by 9:00 a.m., a 1.06 yen move toward a stronger yen from 159.56–66 at 5:00 p.m. the previous day. The move followed the U.S. Treasury Department’s decision to at least double the per-operation cap on buybacks supporting long-term government-bond liquidity, from $2 billion, or approximately ¥320 billion. The 30-year Treasury yield fell from near a 19-year high to about 5.20%, while the 10-year yield dropped to around 4.65%. The yen’s gains also reflected uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz after the United States and Iran declined to extend a memorandum on cessation of hostilities. Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf said the strait would remain closed until the United States fulfilled all provisions of the memorandum, while President Trump said no negotiations with Iran were taking place or scheduled. Markets are also awaiting minutes from the July 28–29 FOMC (Federal Reserve policy-setting committee) meeting, with the probability of rates remaining unchanged at the September meeting priced at nearly 70%.