The yen abruptly staged its biggest one-day surge since August on on Friday, amid speculation that Japanese authorities could be preparing to mount a market intervention to halt the currency’s slide.

The yen rallied as much as 1.75% to ¥155.63 per dollar, extending the gains seen during the Asian trading day to its strongest level of the year. The moves reversed what had been a steady slide toward levels last seen in 2024, when Japan stepped in to buy the currency.

The jump in the U.S. session came as traders reported that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had called financial institutions to ask about the yen’s exchange rate. Wall Street saw it as an indication that the bank was preparing to assist Japanese officials to intervene directly in the currency market to prop up the yen.

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