The Japanese yen rose more than 1% against the dollar in Wednesday intraday trading, breaking through 159 to reach ¥158.22 per dollar, prompting traders to investigate whether Japanese authorities had intervened again. The rally followed comments from Hajime Takata, the most hawkish member of the Bank of Japan's policy board, who signaled he would not rule out an outsized rate increase or consecutive hikes. Those remarks strengthened expectations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) could tighten monetary policy soon. Alex Cohen, a foreign exchange strategist at Bank of America, said the market remained on high intervention alert, referring to direct yen purchases and dollar sales by Japanese authorities. Japan's Ministry of Finance has deployed a record $96.4 billion over the past month to support the yen after it fell to a four-decade low, but traders disagreed over whether official action drove Wednesday's move. Andrew Hazlett, a currency trader at Monex Inc., said intervention rumors were circulating but expressed skepticism because of the move's scale, while acknowledging that the yen's rapid gains against both the dollar and euro were difficult to explain otherwise. The U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to questions about possible participation in intervention or exchange-rate checks. Wednesday's move was smaller than the coordinated Tokyo-Washington operation roughly a month earlier, the first such joint intervention since 1998, which lifted the yen about 5% from around 164 per dollar and hit short-sellers. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%, its largest intraday decline since August 21, while emerging-market currencies reached session highs. Spot gold gained more than 1% and approached $4,400, while spot silver climbed above 2% and peaked at $65.56 per ounce. Yen weakness has reflected wide interest-rate differences, concerns about Japan's fiscal discipline and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's aggressive fiscal expansion agenda. U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data shows hedge funds cut yen shorts sharply after the joint intervention, although speculative short positions are rebuilding as its effect fades. The Takaichi government reportedly supports a BOJ rate increase as early as September. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda to make the right monetary-policy decision, described recent yen volatility as fairly manageable and defended U.S. support for the yen, warning that extreme fluctuations could raise U.S. interest rates. After the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said coordinated foreign-exchange intervention supports global market and economic stability and that no assembled financial leader objected when she explained the U.S.-Japan action. Ueda said recent economic data were broadly consistent with prior forecasts and that future rate decisions would depend on economic, price and financial conditions. He added that underlying inflation was approaching the BOJ's 2% target, warranting vigilance against an overshoot, with exchange-rate movements among the upside inflation risks requiring close monitoring. Market participants widely view Bessent's repeated yen comments and support for Ueda as indirect pressure for more decisive BOJ tightening. During the G20 meetings, Bessent also met Ueda separately, supporting decisive Japanese action to address the yen's undervaluation and noting that yen depreciation was contributing to domestic inflation.