Sumitomo Mitsui Nikko Securities economist Junichi Makino said Japan’s Finance Ministry’s month-long pause in FX intervention is likely a strategic decision rather than tacit acceptance of a weaker yen. He added that market expectations of higher US rates would weaken any intervention’s effectiveness, so the ministry may have judged a pause wiser. Finance Ministry data show no yen-buying operations from May 28 to June 26.